- According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), operating a gas leaf blower for an hour can create as much smog-forming pollution as driving a Toyota Camry for 1,100 miles. The agency estimates that the state is home to some 14.4 million SOREs in the residential and commercial lawn equipment sector.
Good I guess… Hopefully that means new lawn mowers in the other states no longer have to be CARB compliant and can be cheaper and more reliable. It is kind of surprising how dirty those little engines are, kind of makes sense that emissions control is hard in cheap small engines
Anyone who owns a leaf blower can eat a dick. There's nothing more American than using a gas-powered, unregulated, noisy fucking machine, to blow your garbage into your neighbor's yard for them to deal with. Fuck leaf blowers and everyone that owns one. I've got a fucking rake and a broom. But yeah... the regulation is petty and pointless and totally performative and does nothing to stop or reduce the carbon output of the 9 companies that produce more than 90% of the carbon emissions in the world. But it makes us liberals feel smug and superior, while the conservative fucksticks rake in the cash from the oil industry.
Dude. You know why people hate liberals? here is why people hate liberals. From the article: From a casual internet search of "leaf blower emissions" The two-stroke leaf blower was worse still, generating 23 times the CO and nearly 300 times more NMHC than the crew cab pickup. Let's put that in perspective. To equal the hydrocarbon emissions of about a half-hour of yard work with this two-stroke leaf blower, you'd have to drive a Raptor for 3,887 miles, or the distance from Northern Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. Let's assume every lawn care motor out there is a brand-fucking-new teeny tiny 4-stroke Ryobi (they aren't). Let's assumed they're used one hour a year (they're not). One "green" leaf blower puts out the equivalent of 74 miles' driving in an F-150 from a CO2 standpoint, and 792 miles from a non-methane hydrocarbon standpoint. Times 14.4 million is the equivalent of eliminating a billion miles traveled. California averages 340 billion miles a year. If those leaf blowers are used ten hours a year (and again, these are the Town Called Perfect leaf blowers) we just cut California's emissions by 3%. If they're used for an hour once a week (and they're not), we just cut California's emissions by 15%. Is it going to save the world? No. Is it an actual good thing? Yes. Can... California effectively go after the "9 companies that produce more than 90% of the carbon emissions in the world?" Well, they can keep the 70cc two-strokes off one market, at least. Have more coffee.But yeah... the regulation is petty and pointless and totally performative and does nothing to stop or reduce the carbon output of the 9 companies that produce more than 90% of the carbon emissions in the world.
The agency estimates that the state is home to some 14.4 million SOREs in the residential and commercial lawn equipment sector.
Distilling the above results, the four-stroke Ryobi leaf blower kicked out 6.8 times more NOx, 13.5 times more CO and more than 36 times more NMHC than the Raptor.
I hear ya. And thank you for pulling up the actual numbers. 3% of ANYTHING in California is a needle-moving number, regardless of what it is measuring. So this is not just "performative legislation". I humbly take that back. But it is also a rounding-error sized detail, when you look at the scope of the environment. Shit... CARB standards exist for all 50 states now, because of California. Car manufacturers have now ALL committed to go fully electric in the next X years, because of California. Coal-fired power plants are shutting down everywhere because of California. California has a vast amount of power, and when they wield it, they Make Shit Happen not just in CA, not just in the USA, but across the world. All they gotta do is make an example of ONE of those companies - let's say Exxon - and the others will quickly fall in line out of fear for their necks and their bottom line. Once Pelosi is gone, California can finally be unshackled from Boomer-land thinking, and be a leader and champion for change again.
I have a mechanical push mower for my tiny little lawn. It lets me feel extra smug with my neighbors who have lawn services for their equally tiny lawns. All in all I think this is a good law, even if it's implementation is doubtlessly going to be heavy handed. The noise pollution alone is good enough reason, let alone the chemical pollution. Not sure how easy it will be for the big landscape companies who do things like large city parks, but I'm also not sure inconvenience and price are good enough reasons to keep dinosaurs on the prowl. We'll see how it goes, but I hope more states will consider restrictions, if not outright bans.
How's the reel mower working for you? I've got a smallish 14,000 sq ft lot that I mow in 20 minutes with an 25 year old commercial 48" walk behind mower. It's a four stroke and likely pollutes horribly. Having mature,50ft+ treesnin my yard, I depend on something that mulches leaves. I've always thought of switching to a mechanical mower. Cursory searches always led me ro believe it is a pipe dream.
The big downside is that while it cuts grass really well, it does nothing to weeds. Any stem thicker than a blade of grass might as well be steel. So if you have a lot of dandelions or whatever, your results will suffer. This is the one I have:
katakowsj - I have the Fiskars. have had for five years. b_b is right - weeds'n'such require a weed whacker. I have a 7000-ish sqft lot and in general, when it's growing season, I hit the grass every week (30min). I hit the stubborn stuff every other week with a weed whacker. Go cordless. All my stuff is black'n'decker, and all of it has the same battery mount. There's something delightful about being able to mow the lawn and listen to an audiobook.