The familiar roar of a gas leaf blower is turning into a political fault line. On CBS Mornings, environmental correspondent David Schechter visited Portland, Oregon, where activist Judy Walton of the Quiet Clean Alliance pushed successfully for a citywide phaseout.
Walton told Schechter that blowers are “dirty machines” that harm health – an argument that resonated with a council already hearing weekly complaints about noise and fumes.
Schechter’s segment offered a useful framing: this isn’t just about tidy lawns; it’s about public health, quality of life, and who absorbs the costs of cleaner tools.
Cities are choosing quieter streets, but they’re also choosing to push a rapidly evolving technology into daily, commercial use.
What The Science – and The Sound – Say
Schechter highlighted research on low-frequency noise, the kind gas blowers churn out in spades. Those tones travel farther and slip through walls, prompting concerns about elevated blood pressure, higher heart rate, and poor sleep.
Electric blowers still whine, but the sound doesn’t propagate the same way, which is why the racket tends to feel block-wide with gas and backyard-bound with battery.
Connecticut is making a similar case at the state level. Reporting for Connecticut Public, Chris Polansky covered a bill to ban the use and sale of gas blowers starting in 2029, with state and municipal fleets beginning a phaseout in 2027.
Environmental scientist Allen Hershkowitz testified that these engines emit fine particulate matter that reaches the lungs and bloodstream, and Elizabeth Dempsey of Quiet Yards Greenwich warned that emissions and noise don’t respect property lines.
Svetlana Wasserman added a memorable kicker: these are “the dirtiest engines still in legal use,” benefiting from regulatory exemptions that cars and trucks lost decades ago.
The advocates’ argument is both visceral and simple: if the pollution and the decibels cross fences, then the problem isn’t private – it’s public.
The Cost Curve And The Power Gap
Policy is one thing. Productivity is another. Portland landscaper Shawn Tripp told Schechter he switched to battery blowers when clients started asking – and paying – for it. Then he explained the invoice. Commercial electric blowers can run around three times the cost of gas.
Crews need industrial batteries and charging systems, which is why Tripp now tows dedicated trailers to keep packs topped up all day. He said he’s built five setups so far. It’s not complicated, he said. It’s expensive.
And there’s still the question of muscle. In Schechter’s on-camera test, gas moved a heavy leaf pile better than the battery unit. Tripp’s verdict was fair: technology is close, but not “apples to apples.”
When leaves are wet, thick, and piled across acres, a five or ten percent power gap stretches into extra hours – and extra payroll.
That’s the same friction showing up in Providence, Rhode Island. Gabrielle Caracciolo of NBC 10 WJAR reported on a city ordinance led by Councilor Sue Anderbois to phase out gas blowers entirely after a transitional window.
Anderbois said the measure responds to constant constituent complaints about noise and emissions and aims to give residents time to adapt. But local business owner Eathan Hattoy warned that runtime realities make the transition brutally expensive.
Without mobile charging, he estimates crews would need 40 to 60 batteries per backpack blower to cover an eight-to-ten-hour day, an investment he pegged at $20,000 to $25,000 per backpack per employee. For small firms, those numbers aren’t a speed bump; they’re a wall.
Where Bans Are Spreading – And Where They’re Blocked
USA TODAY’s Jonathan Limehouse sketches the broader map. Bans and restrictions have swept from the District of Columbia, where fines can hit $500 per offense, to California, which cut off the sale of new gas blowers and string trimmers under AB 1346.
Big retailers are nudging the market too, with Home Depot and Lowe’s shrinking gas inventories as battery platforms multiply.
The trend isn’t uniform. Texas and Florida have passed measures to prevent local bans, reflecting a different calculus about costs, livelihoods, and energy politics. That push-pull guarantees a patchwork for years: electric enclaves surrounded by gas-friendly jurisdictions, with crews straddling both worlds.
Limehouse also notes the rebate ecosystem that’s starting to matter. Cities like Dallas, Austin, and Louisville offer incentives for buying electric gear, and several states, from Indiana to Wyoming, run programs of their own.
It’s a tacit admission that mandates alone won’t carry a commercial sector across the finish line; money has to meet the moment.
Connecticut’s Statewide Test
The Connecticut bill covered by Polansky captures the entire debate at once. Supporters focused on noise and air quality, with Hershkowitz urging lawmakers to treat the transition as a public health investment.
Industry voices – like Terence Stovall of the National Association of Landscape Professionals – warned that electric gear is “more costly and less efficient,” potentially putting crews at a competitive disadvantage when they’re asked to do the same jobs in the same time.
Interestingly, both sides circled the same solution: rebates and tax credits.
Stovall floated the idea to offset conversion costs, and Hershkowitz endorsed incentives for homeowners and businesses alike. When advocates and operators converge on a policy lever, policymakers should probably pull it.
Portland’s Playbook, Up Close
Portland’s story, as narrated by Schechter with on-the-ground voices from Walton and Tripp, shows how change actually lands on sidewalks.
The city will phase in its ban over two years, giving contractors room to retool. That timeline tracks with real-world equipment cycles and lets buyers watch the market improve in the interim. Tripp’s business shows the other half of the playbook: let demand lead.
When customers asked for quieter service and agreed to pay a premium, he invested in trailers and batteries to deliver it.
There’s a caution here too. Even with client buy-in, Tripp still sees a power gap. If cities pretend that gap doesn’t matter, especially in leaf-heavy climates, they risk pushing work into overtime or into the hands of out-of-town firms willing to ignore the rules.
Providence’s Phaseout – Promises And Unknowns
Anderbois’ ordinance tries to split the difference: allow gas use in a limited fall window starting in 2028, then end it entirely a few years later.
The city even nods to the financial burden and promises education on state reimbursement funds. The open question, as Caracciolo reported, is whether commercial operators will actually qualify for meaningful help, and how much money will be available when dozens of companies apply at once.
Hattoy’s worry is practical, not ideological. If crews can’t charge on the move, they’ll either pass costs to clients, skip Providence jobs, or shrink services.
None of those outcomes delivers a cleaner, quieter city; they just shuffle the problem across borders and budgets.
What A Fair Transition Looks Like
The shape of a workable plan is visible in all four stories.
Give timelines that match equipment lifecycles so firms can retire gas gear on schedule instead of all at once. Fund commercial-grade rebates that scale with real costs – blowers, battery packs, charging trailers, and shop electrical upgrades – not just homeowner kits.
Use cooperative purchasing to bring small companies into fleet-level pricing. Provide training that cuts runtime today – nozzle choice, throttle discipline, debris staging – because smarter technique reduces noise regardless of fuel type.
And carve out seasonal allowances during peak leaf weeks while technology closes the last power gap.
That approach treats landscapers as partners instead of targets. It’s also faster. Cash moves markets more reliably than citations.
Gas blowers are losing ground for understandable reasons: the health case is strong, the noise is intrusive, and the technology is finally good enough for most jobs, most days. The mistake is pretending the transition is frictionless.
What Schechter surfaced in Portland, what Limehouse charted nationwide, what Polansky captured in Connecticut’s hearing room, and what Caracciolo recorded on Providence sidewalks all point the same way. People want quieter neighborhoods.
Crews want tools that finish the route on time. Cities want progress without collateral damage to small businesses.
We can have all three if we stop treating this as a morality play and start treating it like infrastructure. Put real money behind commercial conversions. Set timelines that match the work. Build charging where the work happens.
And measure success not by how many bans pass, but by how many leaf crews finish a fall Friday without waking an entire block – or breaking their bottom line.
UP NEXT: “Heavily Armed” — See Which States Are The Most Strapped
Americans have long debated the role of firearms, but one thing is sure — some states are far more armed than others. See where your state ranks in this new report on firearm ownership across the U.S.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, John developed a love for the great outdoors early on. With years of experience as a wilderness guide, he’s navigated rugged terrains and unpredictable weather patterns. John is also an avid hunter and fisherman who believes in sustainable living. His focus on practical survival skills, from building shelters to purifying water, reflects his passion for preparedness. When he’s not out in the wild, you can find him sharing his knowledge through writing, hoping to inspire others to embrace self-reliance.