mow
(I damaged my left pointing finger today and am doing my damnedest to type this without its use, which makes the “f” and “g” keys miss it terribly)
Sometimes you read statistics and factoids which make you expel the breath in your lungs with the force of an explosion, accompanied by the words “holy fuck”!
Okay. We all know that transportation pollution is usually the big offender when it comes to dirty air. Here in pristine, unspoilt Los Angeles, transportation-based pollution (read: cars) is over 50% of the contributor to air pollution. It’s as much as 70% of the air polluter in many cities. Fine, that’s to be expected.
But lawnmowers?
Listen to this statistic:
In a single day, Southern California’s lawn tools spew out more pollution than all the aircraft in the Los Angeles area. A single mower puts out more pollution than 73 new cars.
Waitaminnit. More pollution than all the aircraft in LA?! More pollution than the fucking aircraft flying out of LAX?
Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, said “In California, lawn mowers put out as much pollution today as about 25 percent of the cars combined,” meaning that a quarter of California’s air pollution is as a result of gas-powered lawnmowers. A quarter.
Also, here’s where the dumbass contribution really comes into play:
… garden equipment users spill 17 million gallons of fuel each year … more petroleum than spilled by the Exxon Valdez in the Gulf of Alaska.
Sweet mother of god. That either means that Americans are the sloppiest sons of bitches in the world, or they don’t care about poisoning the planet, or both.
Dudes, do us all a favor. Use an electric of push mower. Please. These statistics are just grotesque.
By the way, California is trying to pass legislature to force all gas-powered mowers in California to be rigged with a catalytic converter, which is one of the main instruments to reduce emissions in vehicles, introduced in the 70s. But Briggs and Stratton, the largest mower manufacturer in America, is exercising supreme interest group power to stall that legislature by introducing stumbling blocks and throwing money around. They don’t want the extra expense or inconvenience, you see.
Ain’t Corporate America wonderful?
Sources and quotes from CBS News, peoplepoweredmachines.com, and the EPA