Gas-powered leaf blowers are noisy, polluting and harmful to our health. But are bans the best way to go? [Video]

Mark Nevitt describes the views on his walk or bike to work in Atlanta, Georgia, as “stunningly beautiful” thanks to the city’s lush tree canopy. 

But when autumn arrives, not only do the trees shed their leaves, there’s another seasonal change the Emory University environmental law professor says he’d rather do without. 

“My beautiful bike ride to Emory’s campus was really punctuated and made really unpleasant by gas-powered leaf blowers,” Nevitt said in an interview with What on Earth. “That’s what led me down this rabbit hole of looking into their climate harms.” 

The common gas-powered leaf blower has a two-stroke engine, says Nevitt. That means it cranks out more greenhouse emissions than the biggest pick-up truck you can buy. 

Nevitt said he was outraged when a bill was passed in the Georgia senate last year that seeks to prohibit the state’s cities and counties from banning gas-powered leaf blowers. 

“We’re seeing a powerful …