DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – They clean up lawns and neighborhoods, but some City of Dallas leaders believe they are an environmental hazard.
We’re talking about gas powered lawn equipment – primarily leaf blowers – that could be banned by the city now that plans are underway to hire consultants who will evaluate the impact.
The city has a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Part of that will include replacing thousands of its gas powered tools with those that operate on electricity and are quieter.
But the city could also force residents to switch as well.
Last year, a City of Dallas environmental committee revealed plans to phase out the public and private use of gas powered lawn equipment because of the emissions and noise pollution they cause.
“I know it’s not going to be an easy conversation to have with people, but it’s a conversation we need to have,” said Dallas City Councilmember Paula Blackmon. “Because if we are going to be serious about our air quality, we’ve got to stop nibbling at the ends and we’ve got to get to the core and have those discussions.”
The committee, led by Councilmember Blackmon, is moving forward by hiring a consultant to evaluate the impact.
A study has already found that replacing the city’s blowers, trimmers and saws to electric would reduce emissions by over 41 tons a year.
The noise pollution gas powered blowers create is at the level of a car horn or a snowmobile. But forcing landscaping companies to go all electric could be costly to them.
Some of those who use electric to clean their yards also say it’s not as efficient.
“The electric one, you have to charge the battery every time you have to use it and it’s kind of annoying sometimes because you’re using it and the battery will die and you have to wait for the battery to charge,” said Dallas resident Ricardo Santisteban.
Right now, the city is eyeing 2027 as the earliest date to impose a ban and there’s talk of creating incentive funds to help reduce the cost for those landscaping businesses forced to switch.
