New York Ban Would Force You To Buy An Electric Lawn Mower
That familiar sound you hear of lawnmowers and leaf blowers on a summer morning might be a thing of the past if New York lawmakers get their way.
This comes on the heels of California's ban that was just signed into law. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill this month that will stop sales of gas-powered equipment with small off-road engines by January 1, 2024, in California.
Well, now State Sen. Peter Harckham this week introduced a bill that would require lawn care and landscaping equipment like lawnmowers, trimmers, and leaf blowers sold in New York to be zero emissions by 2027. That means they would have to all be either plug-in electric or battery-powered electric lawn tools.
The reason for the five-year timeline is to give professional landscapers time to replace their gas-powered equipment before the ban would take effect.
Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants, according to the EPA. The EPA says a new gas-powered lawnmower produces as much air pollution in 1 hour of operation as 11 new cars each being driven for 1 hour.
I tried an electric law mower about 10 years ago and it sucked...big time.
I will say this, I have transitioned to some battery-powered landscaping tools like my string trimmer, leaf blower, and chainsaw. Surprisingly, they do a great job. There have been a lot of advances in battery technology and they work really well and their battery life is much approved.
So, what that means is if this ban is passed in New York you can keep that old trusty lawnmower for now, but when it's time to replace it you might have to buy an electric, zero-emission model.