Editorial: Lawn mowers vs. clean air

Saturday, April 29, 2006 | 7:27 a.m.

Homeowners who regularly get out and cut their grass to the perfect height often gaze at their handiwork and take pride in keeping the neighborhood looking good. But there aren't many among us who realize that their exercise in beautification adds greatly to air-quality problems.

A story this week in The New York Times reports that homeowners who use gasoline-powered mowers, and most do, are contributing heavily to unhealthy smog. The exhaust emitted from new mowers, gallon for gallon, contributes 93 times more smog-forming emissions than new cars, the article reported.

The Environmental Protection Agency supports the California Air Resources Board, which has been trying for years to get manufacturers to install catalytic converters in their gasoline-powered mowers. Embedded in exhaust systems, the devices reduce much of the toxicity that would otherwise be emitted out the tailpipe. By order of the federal government, they have been installed on automobiles since 1975.

California has encountered stiff resistance from the large manufacturers of mower engines, such as Briggs & Stratton. The manufacturers have received help from Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo. His state is home to two Briggs & Stratton factories.

Bond, who has clout as the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that controls the EPA's budget, has commissioned studies to delay the add-on to the mowers, and has also worked to prevent the requirement from becoming a national standard. Bond and the manufacturers say catalytic converters would present a fire hazard, as they would cause mower engines to run hotter. They argue that mowers are stored in garages near flammable materials and are often left standing outside amid dry grass.

But as the Times reported, engineers with other, smaller mower manufacturers have solved the problem with heat. And the EPA, according to the Times, says a properly engineered mower could meet the new standards safely.

The manufacturers also argue that the price of mowers would go up 30 percent, but the EPA says the price would rise only a little more than half of that for the typical mower.

When catalytic converters were being debated in the 1970s, auto manufacturers strongly objected. But today no one can imagine a car without them. We wish the manufacturers would imagine homeowners looking proudly out over their newly cut lawns, and understand that they are proud of their communities as well.

Tons of smog can be eliminated by installing the small converters. Bond and the manufacturers should stop fighting and join in the national effort to clean America's air.