We ask the Board of Alders to consider limiting or phasing out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in New Haven because…
--Gas-powered leaf blowers produce dangerous and damaging levels of noise pollution associated with irreversible hearing loss, high blood pressure, and insomnia. Compared to electric tools, gas-powered leaf blowers sound particularly loud to workers, residents, and students because of the much greater low frequency component, which travels farther and penetrates closed windows.
--Gas-powered leaf blowers endanger public health by exposing leaf-blower operators, who are often low-wage workers, and other community members to dangerous levels of airborne pollutants linked to cardiac disease, cancer, birth defects, and asthma. Children, the elderly, and those with respiratory disease are most vulnerable--as are landscaping workers.
--Gas-powered leaf blowers emit a shockingly high amount of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Many are powered by two-stroke engines which can emit 30% of their unused gas and oil as exhaust--thirty minutes use of a two-stroke gas-powered leaf blower produces the same planet-warming hydrocarbon emissions as driving a Ford F-150 Raptor pick-up truck from Texas to Alaska.
--The high windforce of gas-powered leaf blowers disrupts local ecosystems and whips up hazardous particles and contaminants such as pesticides, fertilizers, allergens, and animal droppings into the air we breathe.
--Good news: electric leaf blowers are quieter, cleaner, effective, and economically competitive alternatives, as are hand tools and mulching. A recent University of Arkansas study found the annual cost of an electric blower to be $120 compared to $329 for a gas-powered one. California and over 100 US cities and towns including Washington D.C. and Burlington VT have moved to limit gas leaf blowers.
The Environmental Advisory Council has already requested that the Board of Alders hold a hearing on this issue. Please tell your Alder that you want to make New Haven a quieter, healthier, more livable city by addressing gas-powered leaf blowers now.
For the full EAC resolution, more information and references, see:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UQqVI59SHfUhgqBT6bdhDrmRmfNmgQAO/editFor recent local and national coverage on the issue, see below:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/opinion/leaf-blowers-california-emissions.htmlhttps://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/james-fallows-leaf-blower-ban/583210https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/gas_powered_leaf_blowerhttps://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Loud-polluting-gas-leaf-blowers-under-attack-in-16230114.php