After two days of protest from liberty-minded Americans angry about nanny-state overreach, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Wednesday denied that his agency has any immediate plans to ban the sale or manufacture of gas stoves in the interest of public health.

In a brief statement, Alexander Hoehn-Saric said his agency is reviewing the health impact of gas stoves and exploring way to reduce any risks to people who use them, “but to be clear, I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so.”

“This spring we will be asking the public to provide us with information about gas stove emissions and potential solutions for any associated risks,” he added. “This is part of our product safety mission — learning about hazards and working to make products safer.”

Mr. Hoehn-Saric was compelled to issue the statement after one of  his commissioners, Richard Trumka, was quoted by Bloomberg News calling gas stoves a “hidden hazard” in American households because they emit potentially harmful pollutants in people’s homes. He said products that cannot be made safe can be “banned” by the agency.

The comments kicked off a firestorm, with some in Congress and elsewhere pledging that government agents would have to come and take their gas stoves by force. West Virginia’s conservative Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, called the idea a “recipe for disaster.” 

“The federal government has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner,” he added on Twitter. “I can tell you the last thing that would ever leave my house is the gas stove that we cook on.”

Outrage about the prospect of losing gas cooktops extended beyond the halls of Congress and into kitchens everywhere. One celebrity TV chef, Andrew Gruel, went so far as to tape himself to his gas range with blue duct tape and promise to stay there “until the idea is completely eliminated from everybody’s minds.” 

Defenders of the idea of a ban, such as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, reiterated the argument that the stoves are health hazards. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez went so far as to claim that the nitrogen dioxide they emit is “linked to reduced cognitive performance.”

Critics of the lawmaker quickly tracked down social media images of her using a gas stove in her own kitchen, as well as images of other prominent politicians and their spouses — including the first lady, Jill Biden, Senator Warren of Massachusetts, and Vice President Harris — laboring over gas-powered stoves in their kitchens as well.

Climate alarmists have been agitating for some time now to force Americans to give up their gas stoves in the interest of combating global warming, but Monday’s comments by the CPSC were the first indication that federal regulators were even considering the idea of banning them on health grounds.

As many as 100 cities around the country have already passed measures forbidding gas hookups in new residential construction, forcing developers to install vastly inferior electric stovetops in newer homes regardless of what their customers want.