A Climate Campaign that Could Get Many Involved

By Stanley Heller, Promoting Enduring Peace

We don’t have to wait until laws are passed to take action to stop greenhouse gases (GG). We can campaign right now to get state and local governments, colleges and schools to voluntarily stop using gas-powered devices on their own parks, lawns and forests and land bordering roadways.

In 2018, Connecticut used 3,800,000 gallons of gas on lawn care. Much of that was used in 2-cycle engines that spew a lot of pollution and greenhouse gases. They send out microscopic particulates that go deep into lungs. They send out cancer-causing chemicals like benzene. And they send out CO2, N2O and other greenhouse gases (GG). These machines are dangerous to lawn care workers using them and the GG imperil the whole world.

Get a group together at your school or in your city. Write to the authorities and tell them why it’s important to replace gas-powered equipment. Ask them to inventory what off-road gas-powered equipment they use: leaf blowers, lawn mowers, trimmers, chain saws, etc. Call on them to replace the equipment. Use letters, petitions and phone calls and show up at relevant meetings.

Here’s something that would need action from the legislature. Ask them to give the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection a million dollars to offer consumers to exchange electric equipment for their gas-powered machines. Don’t laugh. It need not be a fantasy. Connecticut did just that in the ’90s with $500,000. They gave away lower-polluting equipment in exchange for worse polluting machines (CT Lawn Equipment Exchange Fund – LEEF).

For help with this see pepeace.org/stop-sores or call 203-444-3578.

Notice from the New Haven Board of Alders

The City Services and Environmental Policy Committee of the Board of Alders will meet on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at 6 p.m., via video conference at https://bit.ly/3opXAwR and by phone at 646-558-8656 Webinar ID: 979 5435 3415.

The second of two items to hear and act on is regarding gas-powered leaf blowers.

LM20210378 Resolution of the New Haven Board of Alders concerning a public meeting to hear residents’ concerns about the use of gas-powered leaf blowers and discuss phasing out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in the City of New Haven as soon as is practicable, while allowing a reasonable transition period for local landscapers and residents.

These items are on file and available in the Office of the City Clerk, Room 202 at 200 Orange Street; New Haven, CT 06510.

For accommodations to view the meeting, please email [email protected] or call 203-946-6483. For accessibility-related accommodations, please call 203-946-7651 (V) or 203-946-8582 (TTY/TDD).

Public comment/testimony may also be submitted via email to [email protected] before 2 p.m. on the day of the meeting. If you wish to present testimony at the meeting, you must register in advance at https://bit.ly/3opXAwR or by calling 203-946-6483 or emailing [email protected] before 2 p.m. on the day of the meeting.

Public can view the meeting at https://bit.ly/3opXAwR  or listen by phone at 646-558-8656 Webinar ID: 979 5435 3415. The password to listen by phone only is 98977126.