'Idiotic': Lawn Companies Issue Blistering Response to Newsom After He Moves To Destroy Their Businesses, 'This Is Going To Hurt Us'
Back in the days when humor writer Dave Barry had a regular newspaper column, he would frequently mention some outlandish thing that was actually true and follow it with the statement: “I am not making this up.”
Regarding a new law signed by Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom: I am not making this up.
California, the place where reality goes to die, has outlawed the sale of off-road gasoline engines beginning in 2024, according to The Washington Post.
The Center Square reported that would include lawnmowers, leaf blowers, golf carts and any other lawn equipment powered by gas.
Also prohibited will be sales of gasoline chainsaws, a ban that doesn’t make much sense in a state plagued by wildfires. And how will Californians handle their rolling electrical blackouts since new gasoline generators will have to be zero-emission by 2028?
Perhaps Newsom believes electrical generators could be zero-emission by being powered by electricity.
Even some Democrats in the California Legislature voted against banning the small gas engines, according to the California Globe.
One of the sponsors of the anti-gasoline law was Lorena Gonzales, a San Diego Democrat. She’s not new to crazy legislation: She was behind California’s Assembly Bill 5 of 2019, aimed at destroying independent contractors to make them employees (preferably unionized).
She’s ecstatic about getting rid of small gasoline engines.
“I was so proud to work with [Assemblyman Marc Berman] on this bill, as a joint author,” Gonzales tweeted. “We even got money in the budget to help small landscapers replace their dirty leaf blowers! Huge thank you to Marc for recognizing the impact this has on Latino workers.”
I was so proud to work with @AsmMarcBerman on this bill, as a joint author. We even got money in the budget to help small landscapers replace their dirty leaf blowers! Huge thank you to Marc for recognizing the impact this has on Latino workers. https://t.co/tx123NIJXG
— Lorena Gonzalez (@LorenaSGonzalez) October 10, 2021
There is a specific name for the gas engines; they’re called SOREs, small-off road engines. And in California, they’re regulated by the California Air Resources Board or CARB, according to the Post.
SORE and CARB — militant environmentalists may not always understand the laws of physics, but they can come up with cool names.
Not cool with the issue are landscaping companies and small businesses. Many of them, after all, have hefty investments in gasoline equipment.
“It should really come down to preference,” Miguel Rojas, the owner of a Los Angeles landscaping firm, told the Globe.
“My crews prefer different things, sometimes based on the neighborhood,” Rojas said. “Some like gas, some like electric, some don’t care. But now they’re trying to get us not to use certain ones? That’s idiotic.
“We use the ones that are best for us, and the client. And one of them is saying that this is for Latinos. This is just going to hurt us, as electric ones don’t last as long due to the battery life. And we wear masks and other protective equipment, so we’re fine using the gas ones. Maybe the writers of this [law] should mow a lawn a few times before judging what’s best for us.”
To get around the new law, Rojas said he would go out of state to buy new gas machines. “Or if they ban using new ones, we’ll just replace the motors of the old ones because they work better. I don’t know how much more out of touch these people can get.”
So it goes in California. Get rid of the gas engines. Get rid of the gig economy contractors.
And there’s more — the governor’s executive order to get rid of gasoline cars by 2035. They’ll then be powered by electricity. Or pixie dust. Or something.
I wish I was making that up.
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