Add another city to the list. Bedford, Massachusetts, has joined those that have outlawed or are looking into banning gas-powered leaf blowers.
The topic was discussed at the May 27 Select Board meeting and will be revisited in the fall, The Bedford Citizen reported. The town outside of Boston and near Minute Man National Historical Park was leaning toward a phaseout of the noisy, polluting lawn equipment.
It would join the nearby municipalities of Lexington and Concord as well as others around the country. The argument is that gas blowers interrupt communities' peace and quiet, expose operators and others to toxic gases, and are "inefficient at fuel conversion."
Electric blowers in general aren't as powerful and can't move as much leaves and debris at once, but they can be powered by clean energy sources at a time when the effects of the changing climate — caused by humans' reliance on dirty energy sources such as coal and gas — are prominent.
Rising global temperatures are causing increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather, as well as melting ice, contributing to rising sea levels. The most important step to turning this around is to ditch the use of machines and other items that emit heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
The Citizen detailed community members' and officials' comments, including Department of Public Works grounds operations manager Nick Pouliot, who said electric blowers are expensive and don't have long enough battery lives to replace gas blowers "one for one." It also noted the town was reluctant to issue a ban without first transitioning government equipment from gas to electric.
Police Chief John Fisher and Health and Human Services Director Heidi Porter said it would be better for the city to educate the public about the benefits of electric equipment and let gas equipment be phased out naturally than to enforce a ban punitively.
To start, Bedford may disallow the use of leaf blowers during certain times of day and certain seasons. This would give landscaping businesses, which would be under financial pressure with a bylaw change, time to adapt.
As one Citizen commenter pointed out, upgrading from gas to electric lawn equipment can be much easier for individuals.
"This is a great discussion — allow me to introduce another option for residential applications: corded-electric!" Maurizio Salato wrote.
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No way 🙅 "Every house in Bedford has outside outlets," they continued. "An extension cord for a leaf blower is not as cumbersome as it is for a lawn mower, and enables cheap and powerful options. My Toro is a two stage axial turbine and is just as powerful (if not more) as the best gas-powered for home use. So, what about asking landscapers/homeowners to start with these? Simple, cheap and actionable."
Another commenter supported a ban on gas equipment, saying the cost of switching to an electric leaf blower can be recouped in two years. "They are cheaper in the long run and a lot quieter and are not polluting," Frank Richichi concluded.
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