<< Return to Press Releases

September 5, 2008 - "Green" private sector cheers new EPA standards for lawn equipment

Fort Collins, CO - Yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency released strict new standards that will improve air quality across the United States. The rules which will take effect in 2011 for lawn and garden equipment will substantially reduce hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and smog forming pollutants emitted from lawn mowers, edgers and blowers with 25 horsepower or less. In the summer of 2011, people will be able to breathe easier. The standards also affect marine engines.

"We are excited to see that the EPA is taking such strides to improve our air quality in the US", says Gerry Keane, President of Clean Air Lawn Care. "We believe that these new standards will be embraced by a public that has been quietly dealing with the health consequences of the pollution for years". In 2008, the American Lung Association State of the Air found that two of every five people - 42 percent - in the U.S. live in counties that have unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution; that is almost 125 million Americans.

Clean Air Lawn Care has been pushing public awareness concerning air pollution caused by gas powered lawn equipment. People have been so receptive to the idea of a lawn service using electric equipment powered by renewable energy, that the business catapulted from a start-up based out of the founder's garage to a national franchise in just three years. The company is an EPA green power partner and has been gathering information from the EPA to get their point across. They are glad to see that the EPA has taken matters one step further.

Clean Air Lawn Care is a lawn maintenance business that uses clean electric and biodiesel powered equipment. The vehicles hauling this equipment have mounted solar panels which charge the electric equipment during the workday. The equipment is clean and quiet; the business is carbon neutral.

"For the past several years we have seen local governments across the country doing their best to educate people about the pollution created by gas powered lawn equipment in an attempt to protect their residents, but the efforts needed to come from a national level", says Keane. "The EPA is doing its job by protecting Americans from pollution that is putting the health of our nation and our planet at risk."

<< Return to Press Releases