Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Are Going Away. Really.
Thanks, for this thoughtful note.
On this important point, about affordability:
>>But as much as I despise these anachronistic noisemakers I often wonder what it would cost the owner to replace them. Certainly without any financial assistance the cost would be prohibitive; if they were banned, he would be forced to shut down his business. ...
Same goes for the state or the municipality - outlawing the noisy dinosaurs would create a financial challenge that lawn care companies - as well as many homeowners - are ill equipped to even consider. So yes - it does take a while to implement such a change, and I don't think the process you describe happening in D.C. has even been contemplated here.<<
Several replies:
1) All this equipment wears out and needs to be replaced at some point. That is why DC had a 3 1/2 year phase-in: that's about the normal service life for this equipment that is used full time, so it was preparing people to *replace* it with battery equipment.
2) Many municipalities, including DC, have offered incentives, zero-interest loans, and other ways to help companies make the transition. I wrote about those, with links, here: https://fallows.substack.com/p/a-dance-of-legislation
3) The price/performance/power curve for lawn-equipment batteries is improving nearly at Moore's Law scale. They are radically more affordable than they were three years ago, and they will become more so.
4) The *ongoing* costs of battery equipment are lower. No fuel costs. Practically no moving parts. (Again, this is an EV-vs-internal-combustion question.
5) It's interesting that when the bill was being considered in DC, many landscaping companies said they would have to close down or stop working in DC. As anecdotal observation, there are just as many landscaping trucks in the neighborhood, employing just as many people, as a year ago. They're just using different equipment .(And the DC government tells us they have had *no* reports of companies closing down. )
Yes, there is a financial cost, for reasons you say. And it's another case, of course, of "externalized" costs not being counted — the noise and disruption, the damage to workers' health.
I appreciate your letting me know, and I hope the change comes soon.
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