California bans gasoline-powered gardening tools

Evgeniy Bai

State Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law that will ban all chainsaws in California, as well as gas-powered lawn mowers and blowers, which, if anyone does not know, clear the ground of fallen leaves. The ban will also include petrol trimmers and even cars that drive golfers across fields.

These dramatic measures are intended to drastically reduce emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. But this is only part of a large-scale project. To completely clear the air over California, Governor Newsom intends to ban the sale of gasoline generators by 2028, and by 2035, all gasoline-powered cars.

In California, according to the AR agency, there are 16.7 million chainsaws, lawn mowers and blowers, and only 3 million cars. But in terms of the scale of environmental pollution, the former are much more harmful than machines. Unbelievable, but true: as the authors of the bill assure, an ordinary blower produces more air emissions per hour than a passenger car that covers the distance from Los Angeles to Denver, Colorado, that is, it travels about 1,700 kilometers. And this is no wonder, given that gardening equipment does not have catalytic converters and thin fuel injection systems.

The developers of the law say that California has become the most ecologically unfavorable state of the United States, with the highest level of environmental pollution. Numerous chainsaws and lawn mowers, local lawmakers say, emit emissions that lead to a host of diseases, including lung cancer, asthma, stroke, and more.

“It's amazing how people are reacting to reports that whatever they are used to dealing with in their backyards is doing so much harm to nature,” says Mark Berman, a member of the California Legislative Assembly. “But our approach is still very moderate, the ban on the sale of the same chainsaws will begin only in 2024”.

Of course, there were also critics of Newsom's initiative in America. Members of the National Association of Landscaping Professionals say the law will dramatically hike the prices of all lawn mowers. And if now a lawn-mower tractor costs from 7 to 11 thousand dollars, then a similar technique with zero emission will cost the consumer twice as much. At the same time, it is also impossible to avoid mowing lawns, referring to the lack of the necessary saws and mowers, - other laws of the State require this from land owners.

A number of California lawmakers have opposed the initiative, believing that it will greatly displease citizens living in rural areas. And what about, they say, gasoline generators at a time when the state is constantly experiencing rolling blackouts due to raging forest fires?

Speaking of fires. Gavin Newsom's inability to deal with them led to a vote in the past September on the recall of the head of state. But the governor defended his honor. He attributed the giant forest fires to global warming, to which, of course, he was not involved. However, his gain is primarily due to the fact that California is one hundred percent democratic, "blue" state, which cannot afford to be led by a Republican.

But in the Republican Texas, the ban on lawn mowers, trimmers and blowers will definitely not work. They are not too keen on fighting for the environment and continue to increase oil production. In Texas, you can continue to threaten, like in a horror picture, neighbors with a chainsaw, God forbid, of course. And, of course, mow the grass and sweep away the fallen leaves in the traditional way.

Republican states say California has other, more sensible laws. For example, if the driver gets drunk to hell and, realizing that he cannot go further, stops and turns off the engine, then you cannot fine and put him in jail, but you need to provide assistance - take his car to some neighboring supermarket, and deliver the drunkard himself home.

But maybe this order also applies to environmental protection, because a drunk person is less likely to choose his car in the atmosphere?