Texas environmental leaders call for incentives for electric lawn equipment

A group of eleven Texas environmental and community leaders wrote the Senate Natural Resources committee today endorsing legislation to provide incentives for the purchase of electric lawn equipment. The letter noted that “a significant and largely unaddressed source of pollution is from lawn equipment, including lawn mowers, string trimmers, chainsaws and leaf blowers. The inefficient two-stroke engines often used in smaller, gasoline-powered lawn equipment are notoriously polluting, with the smell of unburned gasoline often combining with that of freshly cut grass on summer days.” The group noted that while electric lawn equipment is often competitive on availability, cost and performance, it sometimes has a higher initial price tag.

“As a result, some cities, including Dallas, Austin and Denton, have created incentive programs to help reduce the upfront cost and make these products even more attractive to the public. The state of Texas should create a similar incentive program as part of TERP, helping more Texans take advantage of cleaner, quieter lawn care.”