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VET Testing for Lawn-Mowers Considered

By George Baumler

  In a recent newspaper article, in which a homeowner was praised for doing away with the traditional lawn in favor of a flower garden, the suggestion of testing lawn-mowing equipment was raised.  No one much doubts that the gasoline engines on mowers and other lawn equipment are less friendly to the environment than are automobile engines, with their sophisticated emissions control equipment.  The real question is with the automobile testing program, which is under increasing scrutiny due to the release of the recent National Academy of Sciences report indicating that testing vehicles is not nearly as effective as proponents claim. 

  The Jefferson County Judge Executive, Rebecca Jackson, praised the no-lawn, garden home as a wonderful way to cut pollution.  While the pollution benefits may be real, so are the arguments as to what constitutes an attractive flower garden.  One man’s return to nature tall-grass prairie no-mow-lawn will doubtless be viewed with less enthusiasm by his neighbors than it will by Art Williams of the Jefferson County Air Pollution Control District.  Arguments as to what is attractive and what enhances property are as varied as the property owners.  The line dividing sloth from an artistic expression of individuality will doubtless become blurred if the VET program were to be expanded to include lawn maintenance equipment. 

  The Vehicle Emissions Testing program in Jefferson County is not much different from programs done elsewhere in the nation.  These programs, according the National Academy of Sciences, are grossly overstating their effectiveness.  Here, the local VET claims to remove 38,000 tons of pollutants annually.  According to the findings in the NAS report, only zero to fifty percent of that figure could be claimed.  Testing lawn equipment would be a great inconvenience, causing more driving of automobiles, and would doubtless lead to unkempt lawns and greater pollution.