In his never-ending quest to advance “environmental justice,” California Governor Gavin Newsom has set his sights on a new target: lawn mowers. That’s right, the Golden State governor just signed a bill that would ban by 2024 the sale of new gas-powered small motors used for landscaping. This includes lawn mowers, weed trimmers, chain saws, golf carts, specialty vehicles, and pumps. The bill will also ban the sale of new gas-powered generators by 2028. The Green New Deal crowd talks a big game about “environmental justice.” Their argument is that climate change harms poor communities more than rich communities because impoverished people can’t afford to move, pay for AC/heat, and avoid natural disasters. You know what else harms poor communities? Forcing them to pay more for lawn equipment and removing their access to generators. On average, battery mowers cost about $50 more than their gas-powered counterparts. In addition, gas-powered mowers can last for 10 years (or even longer) while battery-powered mowers must be replaced after about five years on average. And don’t forget the batteries! Those lose charge over time and have to be replaced, usually at a cost comparable to the mower itself. SEE ALSO: Parents Have a Right to be Angry at Their Local School Board Wealthy people can afford to make the switch, but poor people can’t. On a shoestring budget, an extra $100 or $200 expense can mean the difference between putting food on the table and going hungry. It’s the same story for landscaping businesses. Thousands of hardworking Americans run landscaping businesses, and they rely on their equipment to put food on the table. California legislators, in their infinite generosity, have set aside $30 million taxpayer dollars to help these small businesses make the switch. But the National Association of Landscape Professionals told the L.A. Times that this won’t be nearly enough. An unkempt lawn is one thing; heat-related deaths are a totally different ballgame. I used to live in California and I still have many friends there. The rolling blackouts and brownouts are real, and they leave millions of Californians without power for hours, sometimes days, at a time. To prepare for these outages, many California families have purchased gas-powered generators. These generators keep window A/C units running and refrigerators working on 100+ degree summer days. SEE ALSO: Stunning Popularity of Joe Rogan, Dave Chappelle, and Bari Weiss Prove that All Is Not Lost What happens to poor communities when Newsom’s generator ban goes into effect? How will impoverished elderly people stay cool when they can’t power their A/C unit and can’t afford huge solar panel installations? Many will probably die—and they’ll be in those same communities Newsom claims he wants to help via “environmental justice.” This isn’t justice. This is radical ideology masquerading as compassion. This is cynical vote-getting designed to appeal to rich Democratic donors who don’t give a damn about poor California communities. If Newsom really cared about “environmental justice,” he’d try to make energy cheaper, not more expensive. He’d help hardworking small business owners thrive, not impose tyrannical regulations they can’t comply with. And he’d make it easier for the impoverished to survive the blackouts caused by his own “environmental justice” policies, not remove their access to life-saving electricity generation. He doesn’t really care about “justice,” of course. He cares about reelection, and if banning lawn mowers will help him get there, he’s more than happy to toe the party line.
