Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment is noisy, polluting and putting our health at risk, according to a study released on Monday.report by the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center suggests that operating gas-powered equipment produces the same amount of pollution in an hour as driving hundreds of miles in a typical car.
“Operating a commercial lawn mower for just one hour produces as much smog-forming pollution as driving 300 miles in a car,” the study states. “Using a commercial leaf blower is even more polluting, emitting as much smog-forming pollution as driving 1,100 miles in a car.” Four Pennsylvania counties – Montgomery, Allegheny, Bucks and Chester – ranked among the top 100 counties in the nation with the highest fine particulate pollution, according to the report.
State Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-Chester County, who participated in a Monday news conference about the study’s release, is proposing legislation that would establish“In doing so, the task force recommendations would need to consider issues of affordability and technological advancements, as well as accessibility for disadvantaged communities,” she said in a statement.
In her memo seeking her colleagues’ support for her proposal, Shusterman pointed out Pennsylvania wouldn’t be leading the pack in phasing out gas-powered equipment. She said more than 100 local and state governments across the country already have enacted at least a partial ban on their use or offered incentives to get their residents to go electric- or battery-powered.