Gas-powered lawn mowers and speedboat engines will be cleaner under new regulations announced Thursday by the U.S. EPA. By 2011, engines in new lawn and garden equipment must emit 35 percent less smog-forming emissions, and recreational watercraft must cut emissions 70 percent by 2010. “EPA’s new small engine standards will allow Americans to cut air pollution as well as grass,” says ever-hilarious EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. While small engines may seem, well, small, they contribute 15 percent of the nation’s smog-forming emissions. The public-health benefits of cleaning ’em up “outweigh estimated costs by at least eight to one,” notes EPA, “while preventing over 300 premature deaths, 1,700 hospitalizations, and 23,000 lost workdays annually.” The regulations would likely have been implemented years ago if not for strenuous opposition from Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R), whose state is home to the nation’s largest small-engine manufacturer.
