First, the climate alarmists in the government said they were coming for your gas stoves. Then they said they weren’t coming for them. Then they came after them anyway. So given this crowd’s recent track record, we should probably take them seriously when they say that they’re going to crack down on wood-burning pizza ovens. Oh, and coal-fired ovens also. Thus far this is only happening in New York City, but a “great idea” like this will no doubt be spreading to liberal circles across the land in no time. And if you run a pizza shop that uses such a stove, you can either spend an arm and a leg for a new filtration system or the city will fine you huge amounts of money until you shut up and comply. (NY Post)

Historic Big Apple pizza joints could be forced to dish out mounds of dough under a proposed city edict targeting pollutant-spewing coal-and-wood-fired ovens, The Post has learned.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has drafted new rules that would order eateries using the decades-old baking method to slice carbon emissions by up to 75%.

“All New Yorkers deserve to breathe healthy air and wood and coal-fired stoves are among the largest contributors of harmful pollutants in neighborhoods with poor air quality,” DEP spokesman Ted Timbers said in a statement Sunday.

I may have finally figured this out. It’s similar to the scene in Quest for Fire where one group literally squeals and runs away when somebody figures out how to start a flame intentionally. These people are actually afraid of and opposed to fire.

The filtration systems for these pizza ovens that the city plans to mandate cost upwards of $20,000. And even when they are installed, you have to pay someone to come do maintenance on them every few weeks to remain in compliance. Hasn’t New York already made it expensive enough to operate a bar or restaurant in Gotham?

And even if you believe that wood smoke is somehow a major driver of climate change, it’s estimated that there are less than 100 restaurants in the New York metropolitan area using them. That’s in a city of 8.5 million people. How much of an environmental impact do they think they’ll have by regulating these pizza ovens? Could it even be measured with the most delicate scientific instruments?

And if they want to talk about wood smoke, perhaps they could have a chat with Canada before coming after the pizzerias. The smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the northeast earlier this month for days on end. And they’re expecting it to happen again in July. Try installing a filtration system on the northern border if you want to do something useful.

This is just the latest front in the War on Things That Work. And these wackadoodles aren’t even bothering to pretend that their mandates make any sense these days. They’re just trying to ban or regulate anything they can get away with to keep the populace on the defense. No pizza for you! Now take your recyclable canister of field crickets back to your pod and eat them quietly. If you bump your social credit score up high enough, we might even let you use some salt.