The editorial board of the Star-Ledger in New Jersey, writing at NJ.Com, is not fooling around. The headline gets right to the point:

The editorial goes into the pros and cons, including a recent summertime ban on gas-powered leafblowers in on New Jersey town:

We are not unsympathetic to the lawn care industry. There are thousands of New Jerseyans employed in the mow-blow-and-go business, and everyone who straps on a Stihl 600 backpack will tell you that it's a crucial tool for their work.

But contractors should be grateful the gas models are only banned for five months....

And, on the sense of power and freedom equipment like this can bring:

No doubt, some of us must express ourselves by wielding earsplitting power tools, and surrender to the manly impulse to wage battle with a dense and leafy pile, as the smoke billows above the tree line - signaling to friend and foe alike that we are alive and blowing.

And the truth is, this is how many of us would choose to clean indoors as well, because it involves blasting things from one place to another place to another without actually having to pick them up, and has been proven to work with both empty pizza boxes and stray Doritos.

The whole thing is very much worth reading. New Jersey's reputation for directness shows off to great advantage here.