After two years of preparation, the Village of Oak Park, Illinois, is starting "strict enforcement" of its ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, Wednesday Journal reported.
"Beginning June 1 of this year, there will be a full ban on gas-powered leaf blowers," Jonathan Burch, director of neighborhood services for Oak Park, told a meeting of village trustees, per Wednesday Journal.
Oak Park is not alone in banning the noisy, highly polluting landscaping tools. As the Associated Press has reported, a growing number of municipalities across the United States have instituted bans on the sale and/or use of gas-powered leaf blowers and similar devices.
California, the nation's most populous state, banned the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and other small, off-road engines in 2024, per California Local.
Opponents of dirty-fuel-powered landscaping tools point to the noise the machines make as well as the disproportionate amount of pollution they produce.
According to the California Air Resources Board, one hour of gas-powered leaf blower use releases as much planet-warming pollution as driving a car 1,100 miles, or the distance from Los Angeles to Denver.
How could this be? For years, even dirty-fuel-powered cars and trucks have become more efficient, largely because governments have forced automakers to comply with ever-stricter pollution standards.
However, until recently, lawmakers largely exempted small, off-road engines (SOREs) from these standards. This created a widening gap between the amount of pollution coming from new automobiles and the amount coming from the much less powerful engines in devices such as leaf blowers and lawn mowers.
The resulting pollution is not only bad for the environment; it's also bad for the health of those in the vicinity of gas-powered leaf blowers and other machines with SOREs. This includes children and the operators of the devices, who are exposed to high levels of carcinogenic compounds and other pollution, according to the Santa Cruz Coalition for a Healthy and Safe Environment.
While there are many reasons to ban gas-powered leaf blowers, it's also important to recognize and help lessen the economic impact such bans have on individuals, particularly landscaping professionals.
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Do you think governments should ban the production of gas-powered lawn equipment? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Absolutely 💯 The cost of transitioning to cleaner, battery-powered tools can be eased by financial incentives for pros and consumers who make the switch. Since banning noisy, polluting leaf blowers benefits the entire community, it is only fair that the burden should not be placed on a few individuals.
Trustee Cory Wesley noted that it will be important to ticket property owners who employ people utilizing gas equipment as well as the contractors.
"I don't think we should ever issue one ticket without the other," Wesley said. "I think the only way to keep this contained and reasonable is if there's some kind of interpersonal accountability among neighbors.
"Most of the landscaper contractors in our village are going to be Hispanic, and calling authorities on people here to do a service feels icky, too. So there needs to be a consequence for the person that's paying them to be here."
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