(SNews) – Democrats in Minnesota are pushing to ban gas-powered landscaping appliances as part of an effort to fight “climate change.”
Two Minnesota Democrat lawmakers are promoting legislation to ban gas-powered lawnmowers, chainsaws, and other tools due to their alleged “climate pollution.”
State Reps. Jerry Newton and Heather Edelson, members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, are proposing a pair of bills that would significantly impact the state’s backyards and neighborhood ice rinks.
They introduced legislation this week that would block the sale of common landscaping appliances like lawnmowers and chainsaws as well ice-resurfacing machines such as Zambonis.
The measure requires that only electric battery versions be sold in the state, starting January 1, 2025.
The ban on lawn and garden equipment would include any machine that uses “a spark ignition engine rated at or below 19 kilowatts or 25 gross horsepower.”
Commonly used landscaping tools like lawnmowers, leaf blowers, hedge clippers, chainsaws, lawn edgers, string trimmers, and brush cutters would all be prohibited by that definition.
The measure follows a Democrat-backed clean energy bill signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz (D).
The law requires electricity production to be 80% carbon-free by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
Republicans labeled it the “blackout bill.”
“DFLers are committed to taking action on climate – unchecked climate pollution threatens Minnesota’s future,” House Speaker Melissa Hortman said after lawmakers passed the bill, according to Alpha News.
“Now is the time to take bold action and ensure Minnesotans have the healthy climate and clean energy future they deserve.”
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