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Comment by nemo44x | Hacker News Reader

Everyone just buys them out of state. There’s literally an entire market for it now. And since most the people using them are immigrants no one is going to seriously back a law banning them from use unless they want to be a named racist. It’s all just a show.

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I don't understand why CA keeps passing these sorts of laws. It makes them a subject of ridicule, the laws are more or less completely ignored, and the underlying structural problems behind the issue are never solved. If they really wanted to be "progressive" on Climate Change, they could discourage buying and shipping cheap goods from overseas. But that might make their wealthy donors unhappy.

CA is the land of show, and things like banning straws and gas mowers don’t inconvenience the rich donors and voters - in fact it sounds good to them - and so it’s done.

"People are circumventing a law that attempts to protect the environment, therefore we shouldn't even bother".

Yes, of course people will always look for ways around a law.. but if even 50% can't be bothered to go around it, that will be an enormous reduction in emissions.

But look at zoning in CA and the infinite logjam of traffic on the highways. I hardly doubt leaf blowers make anywhere near a dent policies that a really affect people’s lives would. It’s a joke really.

Look elsewhere in this thread, your gut feeling is very, very wrong:

"To equal the hydrocarbon emissions of about a half-hour of yard work with this two-stroke leaf blower, you'd have to drive a Ford Raptor for 3,887 miles, or the distance from Northern Texas to Anchorage, Alaska"

https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/emissions-test-...

But you can use them. And even if they banned use the scale is so small and unimportant compared to what zoning laws could change. It’s theatre.

No: you ban the *use* rather than the *sale*

Why is there such demand for the ICE ones? The electric ones are cheaper (new at least) and cost a fraction of the operating and maintenance cost. Plus you can now have good reason to ask for outlet/power access at job sites so you don't even pay that cost anymore.

This probably doesn't effect used /existing stock either.

To your point about an outlet - what about jobs where this would require a couple hundred feet of line?

My landscaper recently told me the gas ones are still far more effective. I assume he would know? They go from site to site every day, I’m guessing they don’t have time to charge and want the best tool for their job as all of us do.

The gas ones run all day on a single fillup and no need to charge batteries.

You’re talking changing a hour job into potentially longer from battery swaps and asking for plugs, etc.

And in general the gas ones are cheaper but that is getting closer.

Theater for the masses, none of it matters....

The electric ones are great.

I was talking to my landscaper recently about them. Said they’ve improved but still not as good as an ICE. And they work on efficiency. I assume he knows what he’s talking about as every landscaper near me uses gas. If electric was a better option I assume they’d use them.

Gas is easier than maintaining an array of charged batteries.

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