A headline from NJ.Com. In New Jersey, they believe in getting right to the point.
Here are several more samples of writing about the two-stroke engine issue, from the local press.
First: In the Altavista Journal, in Virginia, columnist Lynda Pinto-Torres has a new essay worth reading. It is called “Blown Away. A sample:
In addition to its noxious fumes, leaf blowers also churn up dust which contains a smorgasbord of harmful chemicals and organic material that can cause or exacerbate medical maladies. Also, without leaves, insects—whose numbers are already in decline from loss of habitat—have fewer safe places to ride out the winter.
And then there’s the noise.
Second, an essay from two years ago, worth re-upping because of its trademark Garden State directness. It is an editorial from the Star-Ledger editorial board, available on NJ.Com, and its headline conveys its point: “No place in civilized society for gas-powered leaf-blowers.”
Here is a sample:
Let's clear the air once and for all about leaf-blowers, and remind ourselves why they belong in the pantheon of yard waste.
They shatter domestic tranquility like a box of nails being poured onto a glass coffee table. They stir up a dusty miasma of poisons. The engine emissions of the two-stroke, gas-powered variety are enough to choke a medium-sized city. And, more than likely, they make your neighbor take exception to the way your face is arranged.
Third is another editorial on NJ.Com, from this past spring. Its title is also wonderfully direct: “Grab a rake. Gas-powered leaf blowers are a public menace.” Sample:
Any community that wishes to prohibit these repulsive machines by whatever degree it considers practical should be encouraged, because there is real science that supports such a ban.
Start with the noise: The uniquely-irritating scream of a gas-powered leaf blower from 50 feet away is up to 80 decibels – four times the noise level of speech. For the person operating the blower, the noise is 95 to 115 decibels, which is torture-level volume. The low-frequency noise penetrates walls of homes far easier than passing vehicles, but you already know that if you ever tried to read, converse, or think when one is in operation nearby.
Then there is the pollution, which is so severe, the two-stroke engine has been regulated out of existence for other uses in the developed world, particularly in parts of Asia.
Congrats and thanks to all these writers and publications.