By Kaila Nichols

After a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner proposed a ban on future gas stoves earlier this year, he sparked a national debate. But what’s behind this uproar? New studies have found that gas emissions from stoves may harm our health. However, years of advertising have led many to believe that cooking with gas is the best way to create delicious meals.

Kaila Nichols spoke to a Chicago chef about his take on the issue, as well as Daniel Cohan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, on how the gas stove became such a cultural staple and the reasons why controversy has erupted around the appliance’s environmental impacts .