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2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Another reminder, these people are idiots and cowards. Don’t let them get to you. 

we won't stop consumption, we have to find ways to innovate and have less of an impact and we have to designate human areas and areas for the natural world.  I'm a hedonist, I get people wanting comfort, travel, nice things.  it's unrealistic to take that away, but I think it's possible to do it sustainably. I wish we could all get on the same page.

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2 hours ago, troph said:

we won't stop consumption, we have to find ways to innovate and have less of an impact and we have to designate human areas and areas for the natural world.  I'm a hedonist, I get people wanting comfort, travel, nice things.  it's unrealistic to take that away, but I think it's possible to do it sustainably. I wish we could all get on the same page.

The day is coming that we will be on the same page once the globalists pull the rug out from under their mind controlled borg foot soldiers forcing them into the dopamine riddled death trap.  The sentient ones will wake up and join the fight and the non sentient ones will go down to die for their stupidity.

https://ideas.ted.com/the-rise-of-the-useless-class/

Imagine supporting that insanity and not only that but acting like you stand on some sort of moral high ground in the process... LOL

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1 hour ago, Pimphand said:

The day is coming that we will be on the same page once the globalists pull the rug out from under their mind controlled borg foot soldiers forcing them into the dopamine riddled death trap.  The sentient ones will wake up and join the fight and the non sentient ones will go down to die for their stupidity.

https://ideas.ted.com/the-rise-of-the-useless-class/

Imagine supporting that insanity and not only that but acting like you stand on some sort of moral high ground in the process... LOL

Quote

But what will keep them occupied and content? One answer might be drugs and computer games. Unnecessary people might spend increasing amounts of time within 3D virtual-reality worlds that would provide them with far more excitement and emotional engagement than the drab reality outside. Yet such a development would deal a mortal blow to the liberal belief in the sacredness of human life and of human experiences. What’s so sacred about useless bums who pass their days devouring artificial experiences?

I'll go fishing, sailing, and scuba diving for the most part. definitely dopamine, but hardly a drug induced video game coma death trap. and I disagree about people's choices degrading their value. that's horseshit. plenty of folks are addicted to social media now, hell some of us can't stop posting on an internet message board if we tried, doesn't mean we are worthless.

That article is beyond extreme.

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29 minutes ago, troph said:

I'll go fishing, sailing, and scuba diving for the most part. definitely dopamine, but hardly a drug induced video game coma death trap. and I disagree about people's choices degrading their value. that's horseshit. plenty of folks are addicted to social media now, hell some of us can't stop posting on an internet message board if we tried, doesn't mean we are worthless.

That article is beyond extreme.

Oh dopamine is awesome and it makes life living.... in smaller doses.  I'm talking about the dystopian hellhole that that is dipshit Yuval Noah Harari's wet dream.
 

Note: I want Yuval Noah Harari in jail.... I do not agree with him at all.

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9 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

Oh dopamine is awesome and it makes life living.... in smaller doses.  I'm talking about the dystopian hellhole that that is dipshit Yuval Noah Harari's wet dream.
 

Note: I want Yuval Noah Harari in jail.... I do not agree with him at all.

I couldn’t tell your angle honestly the first post. I was appalled by the conclusions questioning human value. But I’m the one that thinks animals deserve legal rights. 

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4 minutes ago, troph said:

I couldn’t tell your angle honestly the first post. I was appalled by the conclusions questioning human value. But I’m the one that thinks animals deserve legal rights. 

I'm with you on the animal rights...  I'm all for the humane society who advocates for ethical treatment of animals even those raised for food.  I am decidedly anti PETA who is trying to drive a naturally omnivorous species into being vegetarian.

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On 11/8/2023 at 2:19 PM, Biff Tannen said:

Take a drive through west texas and it’s just flares as far as the eye can see. We literally are pumping so much fossil fuel out of the ground we just have to burn some of it off. Future generations should be aghast at our stupidity. 

Spot on.

Image 1: Texas light pollution 2012.

Image 2:Texas light pollution 2022.

The Big Bend National Park is home to the last realm of Texas darkness being erased. The McDonald Observatory would be rendered useless for optical telescopes, unless the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve can reign it in. (See my post on previous page.)

-- Note huge light pollution from the fracking fields north of the Big Bend and west of Odessa Midland.

We are literally erasing the night sky from human consciousness. It's madness driven by consumerism and the narcissistic belief that we humans, individually and collectively, are the center of all value, meaning, and purpose on Planet Earth and the entire freaking universe. 

But hey, we got plenty of juice for selfies at ACL and SXSW. 

2012.jpg

2021.jpg

Edited by BevoAbyss
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Our neighborhood has lights on houses at night, a lot of them. It’s terrible. We turn all our outside lights off around 9pm unless a kid is out and then just the porch lights not the ornamental lights. Drive around neighborhoods and everyone has landscape lighting etc etc all on into the morning, I see them when I’m up at 4am to go fishing sometimes. It’s maddening. 

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Question: Is anyone aware of an honest assessment of stress on the grid to accommodate widespread adoption of electric vehicles?  My far right FB connections keep posting horror stories that (a) seem flimsy at face value and (b) never seem to address the reduction in energy consumption that would happen were we to need less fossil fuel production.

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9 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Question: Is anyone aware of an honest assessment of stress on the grid to accommodate widespread adoption of electric vehicles?  My far right FB connections keep posting horror stories that (a) seem flimsy at face value and (b) never seem to address the reduction in energy consumption that would happen were we to need less fossil fuel production.

I'm not and don't have the time to googles just this moment, but it seems like those people think that all cars are going to be plugged in at once or something.  EVs are generally plugged in at night during off peak periods, a couple of times a week at most.  It's not any different than running a few high power appliances for a few hours.

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27 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I'm not and don't have the time to googles just this moment, but it seems like those people think that all cars are going to be plugged in at once or something.  EVs are generally plugged in at night during off peak periods, a couple of times a week at most.  It's not any different than running a few high power appliances for a few hours.

The last video I saw was shot at a commercial fast-charge facility, so the power draw was huge (on the order of 150-300 kW).  Yeah, that obviously stresses the grid short term per charger more than a home charge overnight at 20 kW or whatever.  It's not arguing in good faith, that's for sure, but here we are.

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42 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

The last video I saw was shot at a commercial fast-charge facility, so the power draw was huge (on the order of 150-300 kW).  Yeah, that obviously stresses the grid short term per charger more than a home charge overnight at 20 kW or whatever.  It's not arguing in good faith, that's for sure, but here we are.

And this can obviously be at least partially offset by advanced battery storage, solar, and other renewables.  Perhaps not immediately, but it seems unfair to presume we wouldn't be able to innovate.

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Question: Is anyone aware of an honest assessment of stress on the grid to accommodate widespread adoption of electric vehicles?  My far right FB connections keep posting horror stories that (a) seem flimsy at face value and (b) never seem to address the reduction in energy consumption that would happen were we to need less fossil fuel production.
The can't-do attitude of many Americans is astounding.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Always read the article 

“BMW has ended the production of combustion engines at its main plant in Munich. The long-announced step was taken to make room for the production of electric cars at the Bavarian plant,” electrive reports.

That said … BMW has moved engine production to Austria and the UK, so it’s not like the company has ended that segment of its business just yet

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1 hour ago, Bookman said:

It's spring in Brazil and they had a heat index of 137 there.

https://www.axios.com/2023/11/20/brazil-extreme-heat-taylor-swift-climate-change

I saw on the news that Taylor Swift canceled a concert because of the heat and that a fan had died because of the heat. It’s way beyond time to admit that there’s a serious problem and we have to do something about it. But we still have the leader of a major political party calling it a hoax and the party’s media outlets propagating denial.

Meanwhile I’m debating whether I should buy a new snow shovel this year. I didn’t need one last winter. White Christmases are rare these days. It’s supposed to be 54 on Thanksgiving. Back in 1993 we got our first snow on Halloween. I was aware of the scientific consensus on global warming back then and have been watching the battle between science and industry-funded denialism for over three decades. And my personal experience living in one locale all that time comports with the science. It’s pretty depressing. But what’s particularly astounding is that there are still people living in denial when the undeniable evidence is staring them right in the face. 

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4 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

But what’s particularly astounding is that there are still people living in denial when the undeniable evidence is staring them right in the face. 

This is going to happen even when the most dire consequences occur. Like the thumbs up at the end of T2. 

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12 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Always read the article 

“BMW has ended the production of combustion engines at its main plant in Munich. The long-announced step was taken to make room for the production of electric cars at the Bavarian plant,” electrive reports.

That said … BMW has moved engine production to Austria and the UK, so it’s not like the company has ended that segment of its business just yet

This is maybe an aside but maybe also relevant to the thread - I'm bullish about electric cars as a business, but ebikes have far more potential to reduce personal vehicle emissions than electric cars.

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3 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

This is maybe an aside but maybe also relevant to the thread - I'm bullish about electric cars as a business, but ebikes have far more potential to reduce personal vehicle emissions than electric cars.

Especially in India and China.  I think I said it upthread, but 2 stroke engines should be banned.  Motorbikes, three-wheelers, weed eaters, blowers, etc.  Small engines have no place in society anymore with battery tech as good as it is already.

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19 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

This is maybe an aside but maybe also relevant to the thread - I'm bullish about electric cars as a business, but ebikes have far more potential to reduce personal vehicle emissions than electric cars.

i read that same ars article the other day

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/11/280-million-e-bikes-are-slashing-oil-demand-far-more-than-electric-vehicles/

 

far more pleasant listening to the rather quiet whir of electric bikes taking off from a stoplight (in shanghai) instead of the same number of 2 strokes (damn near everywhere else)

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On 11/10/2023 at 7:21 PM, BevoAbyss said:

Spot on.

Image 1: Texas light pollution 2012.

Image 2:Texas light pollution 2022.

The Big Bend National Park is home to the last realm of Texas darkness being erased. The McDonald Observatory would be rendered useless for optical telescopes, unless the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve can reign it in. (See my post on previous page.)

-- Note huge light pollution from the fracking fields north of the Big Bend and west of Odessa Midland.

We are literally erasing the night sky from human consciousness. It's madness driven by consumerism and the narcissistic belief that we humans, individually and collectively, are the center of all value, meaning, and purpose on Planet Earth and the entire freaking universe. 

But hey, we got plenty of juice for selfies at ACL and SXSW. 

2012.jpg

2021.jpg

All it takes to start are city ordinances making all lights downward pointing or equipped with a shade that blocks light in establlished locations from leaking skyward.

Nobody gives a shit about this. Our only hope would be if Coca-Cola, McDonalds, or Taylor Swift made it a cause.

I only have a few standards for making my way through the world. One of them is to never diminsh beauty where possible. I hate to see it. That goes from females wrecking their faces with tobacco, the night sky, and the proliferation of asphalt and concrete. 

Smokers are generally victims, so I sympathize with the fact it's so hard to give them up. All you can do is sigh.

The night sky is a benefit to all who look up at night. Few do. So a free boon is rapidly diminished.

Anywhere USA with its franchised hellscape of ugly signs and no concern beyond brand display destroys even a consideration for ways to leave some green space. It's easier just to let the hard surface flow.

Author Nick Tosches bitterly writes of a drive through a "market that we used to call a world." The words echo in my mind whenever I drive through a city. Austin is an island in the middle of an ocean of Anywhere, USA.

Those who care have to win everytime to prevent the proliferation of the mundanely ugly. Proponents of the sprawl have only to win once to get their way.

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1 hour ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I saw on the news that Taylor Swift canceled a concert because of the heat and that a fan had died because of the heat. It’s way beyond time to admit that there’s a serious problem and we have to do something about it. But we still have the leader of a major political party calling it a hoax and the party’s media outlets propagating denial.

Meanwhile I’m debating whether I should buy a new snow shovel this year. I didn’t need one last winter. White Christmases are rare these days. It’s supposed to be 54 on Thanksgiving. Back in 1993 we got our first snow on Halloween. I was aware of the scientific consensus on global warming back then and have been watching the battle between science and industry-funded denialism for over three decades. And my personal experience living in one locale all that time comports with the science. It’s pretty depressing. But what’s particularly astounding is that there are still people living in denial when the undeniable evidence is staring them right in the face. 

Things are going to start happening pretty fast moving forward, putting enormous pressure on societies/nations/institutions as the the world climbs down Maslow's hierarchy* of needs.
This will bring us to a fork in the road that will define how civilization will change depending on whether or not they hold, as follows:
1) Where cohesion holds around institutions civilizations will adapt in a number of ways - this relatively soft landing will rely on technology to convert to a more sustainable energy and agricultural economy and in turn reduce emissions in a durable way
2) Where cohesion doesn't hold around institutions, civilizations will fail - governments will collapse, nations will fragment, and large portions of the earth will be depopulated by war, disease, and famine. 

Gravity is real. What we've done and are doing to the climate with carbon emissions and forever chemicals is literally unsustainable, meaning that we won't be doing it for long, regardless of whether we deny it or not. It's just a questions of how much suffering it takes to bring us around. 







* FTR, Maslow's hierarchy haas been pretty thoroughly debunked as a universal theory of individual motivations. But it's a useful model when talking about what people and societies care about.  The west, for example, is mostly consumed with issues of esteem and cognition at the bottom, and transcendence at the top, with major investments in life extension. The developing world is dealing with safety and meeting physiological needs at the bottom and make huge strides towards cognitive/educational achievement at the top. So it raises an interesting question of what civilization you would rather be in when shit really starts to go sideways. For example - we will be in a position to mitigate the rise of wet-bulb temperatures across the gulf coast and drought across the west for some time even as they creep out of a livable range, and as a result we won't adapt. Places like India and Brazil can't mitigate, so they will. What society is therefore more likely to be thriving 100 years from now?


600px-MaslowHierarchy.png

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8 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Author Nick Tosches bitterly writes of a drive through a "market that we used to call a world." The words echo in my mind whenever I drive through a city. Austin is an island in the middle of an ocean of Anywhere, USA.

Driving through Italy (or anywhere in Europe I assume) is a stark difference.  No billboards, no strip malls, no fast food signs 10 stories tall so you can see them from miles away...just a totally different world they live in.  It's nice.

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14 minutes ago, elfenix said:

i read that same ars article the other day

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/11/280-million-e-bikes-are-slashing-oil-demand-far-more-than-electric-vehicles/

 

far more pleasant listening to the rather quiet whir of electric bikes taking off from a stoplight (in shanghai) instead of the same number of 2 strokes (damn near everywhere else)

I love mine. For short errands it's better and more practical than my car in virtually every way. I'm taking mine to go to the bank, gym, and groceries today. 

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A couple of years ago I went electric on my lawn mower.  I had gotten absolutely sick of the shitty plastic carbuetors that were used on big box mowers, because they'd crap out in as few as 10-20 uses.  So far, it's been a revelation.  Quiet, durable, zero problems so far.  I mean, it's an electric motor -- not a whole lot can go wrong.  The irony is that I've designed a whole bunch of electric motor/generators in my career.

As far as leaf blowers go, those things should be banned completely.  Moving leaves around from one spot to another makes almost no sense, and doing it with a noxious 2-stroke motor is unconscionable.

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1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

As far as leaf blowers go, those things should be banned completely.  Moving leaves around from one spot to another makes almost no sense, and doing it with a noxious 2-stroke motor is unconscionable.

The electric ones are so much more consistent too.  The gas powered backpack ones are terrible, purely in terms of power and sustained air flow.

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13 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

It's just a questions of how much suffering it takes to bring us around. 

That is the maddening part of all of it (climate change, stupid political choices, etc.).

We live in a society presently governed by this ethos:

this-is-fine_custom-dcb93e90c4e1548ffb16

....which is fucking insane.  No, it is not fine.  Because even if we can still sit and sip our coffee right now....that fire isn't going to stop burning on its own.  Our insistence on slavish adherence to the axiom "Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else" is so fucking stupid....but goddamn, it sure as shit is our brand.

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Just now, Biff Tannen said:

The electric ones are so much more consistent too.  The gas powered backpack ones are terrible, purely in terms of power and sustained air flow.

I have a corded electric leaf blower.  It's the one I inherited from my parents when they moved overseas for a time....in 1997.  I don't put it through super-heavy-duty paces, but it gets used every year multiple times.  It runs like a champ.  It's not nearly as loud or as noxious as a gas one.  The only PITA is running an extension cord, but when I compare that to the PITA of having to refill with a proper fuel mix, cleaning out the cheap carburetor they all have, etc....it's no problem.

And, when my father passes away, I'll inherit his current leaf blower -- a rechargeable battery powered one that works like a champ and has plenty of punch for relatively small tasks like our yards and sidewalks.

Converted to a rechargeable weed whacker last year as well, and will never go back.  Thing packs plenty of punch, and only on the rare occasion when I'm doing significant clearing work do I need to pause for a recharge (I COULD buy another battery, but really need it so rarely it's not worth it).

And I've definitely thought that in our retirement (quite a few years away), when we hope to spend a good bit of our time in compact urban environments, we'll definitely acquire e-bikes or something similar as a transportation mode.  I wouldn't be surprised if our next car purchase here is at least a hybrid.

....he writes after driving his gas-guzzling 99 F-150 to a site visit yesterday.  That thing is thirsty and inefficient as hell (but it gets the job done).  That said, I did the math, and I bet I put under 1500 miles a year on it now.  It's really a "special use" vehicle.

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6 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

The electric ones are so much more consistent too.  The gas powered backpack ones are terrible, purely in terms of power and sustained air flow.

For personal use they are fine. Electric blowers weren't viable for commercial landscape crews until very recently, but the advent of brushless changes that so my guess is that conversion will really get going in about two years. The riding zero turn mowers will be the last thing that gets converted. 

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4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Converted to a rechargeable weed whacker last year as well, and will never go back.  Thing packs plenty of punch, and only on the rare occasion when I'm doing significant clearing work do I need to pause for a recharge (I COULD buy another battery, but really need it so rarely it's not worth it).

That's a feature, not a bug.  Recharge time = Dad drinks a beer or two.

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32 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Driving any old vehicle has a lower carbon footprint than manufacturing a new one, just saying. 

The idea of buying (or leasing I guess?) a new car every 2-3 years is such a wasteful American thing.  I've never understood it.  I'm 41 and have had two cars in my lifetime.  My current one since I was 22.  I'm not saying everyone should keep their cars for 20 years, but at least 8-10 should be the minimum.  But nope.  Gotta have the newest and shiniest thing to keep up with the Joneses.

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42 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

All it takes to start are city ordinances making all lights downward pointing or equipped with a shade that blocks light in establlished locations from leaking skyward.

The night sky is a benefit to all who look up at night. Few do. So a free boon is rapidly diminished.

 

In California, one of my favorite Dark Sky communities is Borrego Springs. It doesn't take much, and requires a little buy in from the community, but the businesses are supposed to turn off lights/signs at 9 or 10, can't remember which. But it's pretty much followed by the community. Obviously that won't work in large cities, but smaller ones can do it 

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4 minutes ago, Doc Sam Beckett said:

In California, one of my favorite Dark Sky communities is Borrego Springs. It doesn't take much, and requires a little buy in from the community, but the businesses are supposed to turn off lights/signs at 9 or 10, can't remember which. But it's pretty much followed by the community. Obviously that won't work in large cities, but smaller ones can do it 

I’ve camped just on the other side of the hill from there near Scissors Crossing. Beautiful and desolate area. 
 

 

IMG_6898.jpeg

IMG_6901.jpeg

IMG_6905.jpeg

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1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

All it takes to start are city ordinances making all lights downward pointing or equipped with a shade that blocks light in establlished locations from leaking skyward.

Nobody gives a shit about this. Our only hope would be if Coca-Cola, McDonalds, or Taylor Swift made it a cause.

I only have a few standards for making my way through the world. One of them is to never diminsh beauty where possible. I hate to see it. That goes from females wrecking their faces with tobacco, the night sky, and the proliferation of asphalt and concrete. 

Smokers are generally victims, so I sympathize with the fact it's so hard to give them up. All you can do is sigh.

The night sky is a benefit to all who look up at night. Few do. So a free boon is rapidly diminished.

Anywhere USA with its franchised hellscape of ugly signs and no concern beyond brand display destroys even a consideration for ways to leave some green space. It's easier just to let the hard surface flow.

Author Nick Tosches bitterly writes of a drive through a "market that we used to call a world." The words echo in my mind whenever I drive through a city. Austin is an island in the middle of an ocean of Anywhere, USA.

Those who care have to win everytime to prevent the proliferation of the mundanely ugly. Proponents of the sprawl have only to win once to get their way.

One term (that probably existed I just didn’t know about it) that I heard a lot about is Europe is “visual smog.” And it’s just so perfect,  so descriptive of the spaces we live in.

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I have an electric mower, blower, and weed wacker. Not noisy, greasy, or smelly. Starts instantly. Always works

And for the person who doesn’t understand blowing leaves. I have four Bradford pear trees in my front yard and I live in a place with 4 seasons. All the leaves fall off, and if you don’t blow them off your lawn, all your grass dies. 
 

 

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2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Driving through Italy (or anywhere in Europe I assume) is a stark difference.  No billboards, no strip malls, no fast food signs 10 stories tall so you can see them from miles away...just a totally different world they live in.  It's nice.

I often refer to the Mediterranean countries as having it all figured out as far as how to live life. Northern Europe is the same in terms of caring about beauty or just making things sorta nice.

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48 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

I have an electric mower, blower, and weed wacker. Not noisy, greasy, or smelly. Starts instantly. Always works

And for the person who doesn’t understand blowing leaves. I have four Bradford pear trees in my front yard and I live in a place with 4 seasons. All the leaves fall off, and if you don’t blow them off your lawn, all your grass dies. 
 

 

To where do you move them?  Why not pick them up or mulch them?

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56 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

And for the person who doesn’t understand blowing leaves. I have four Bradford pear trees in my front yard and I live in a place with 4 seasons. All the leaves fall off, and if you don’t blow them off your lawn, all your grass dies. 

I was mostly speaking to the street & parking lot crews that basically blow leaves to the curb and then they leave them there.

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2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

The idea of buying (or leasing I guess?) a new car every 2-3 years is such a wasteful American thing.  I've never understood it.  I'm 41 and have had two cars in my lifetime.  My current one since I was 22.  I'm not saying everyone should keep their cars for 20 years, but at least 8-10 should be the minimum.  But nope.  Gotta have the newest and shiniest thing to keep up with the Joneses.

From what I can surmise, anyone who is middle class or lower and had to buy a new car in the last few years, they won't have a choice with how much cars cost and the finance terms to afford one for the vast majority of people.

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2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

I have a corded electric leaf blower.  It's the one I inherited from my parents when they moved overseas for a time....in 1997.  I don't put it through super-heavy-duty paces, but it gets used every year multiple times.  It runs like a champ.  It's not nearly as loud or as noxious as a gas one.  The only PITA is running an extension cord, but when I compare that to the PITA of having to refill with a proper fuel mix, cleaning out the cheap carburetor they all have, etc....it's no problem.

And, when my father passes away, I'll inherit his current leaf blower -- a rechargeable battery powered one that works like a champ and has plenty of punch for relatively small tasks like our yards and sidewalks.

Converted to a rechargeable weed whacker last year as well, and will never go back.  Thing packs plenty of punch, and only on the rare occasion when I'm doing significant clearing work do I need to pause for a recharge (I COULD buy another battery, but really need it so rarely it's not worth it).

And I've definitely thought that in our retirement (quite a few years away), when we hope to spend a good bit of our time in compact urban environments, we'll definitely acquire e-bikes or something similar as a transportation mode.  I wouldn't be surprised if our next car purchase here is at least a hybrid.

....he writes after driving his gas-guzzling 99 F-150 to a site visit yesterday.  That thing is thirsty and inefficient as hell (but it gets the job done).  That said, I did the math, and I bet I put under 1500 miles a year on it now.  It's really a "special use" vehicle.

For homeowner use (not commercial landscape where I can see where the backpack gas powered have more utility) we have a corded Toro and an electric cheapo blower like a black and decker or ryobi. The corded blower is awesome and has the thrust needed, the electric blowers are frustratingly impotent. 

And like anything else, when we advocate and advance for things that are more sustainable and better for us, it's going to be more expensive. Below (and linked) is an interesting read about leaf blowers recently banned in New Jersey.

Here is the TL/DR: To enjoy a world without leaf blowers, in other words, we’ll have to learn to live with the leaves.

"Cleaning up leaves in the fall with electric blowers and rakes means spending anywhere from 1.5x to 5x longer per property than it would take with a gas-powered blower. The cost goes up, too.

Spoiler

estimate to remove leaves

“I’ve had to price people out,” says Paxton, who had 156 clients in Montclair last year. “I canceled all of my fall cleanup contracts and said, ‘This is uncharted territory, you have to agree to pay us by the hour.’”

Given the more difficult labor involved (and to weed out Montclair clients they won’t have time to service), Barbra Yuhas, a third-generation owner of Holmes Landscape Inc., says some landscapers may charge Montclair customers as much $95 per man-hour for leaf removal, compared to ~$60 per man-hour with gas-powered blowers.

Paxton says she may increase rates by 10%-15%. Gutierrez says he’s charging ~$800 for some fall cleanup packages that include two visits with four workers. They previously cost ~$600.

In Montclair, most of Gutierrez’s clients have stuck with him despite the higher rates. The city has a large proportion of wealthy, environmentally conscious residents. But around the country, as bigger and more economically diverse municipalities consider bans, landscape industry backers worry about losing clients unwilling to pay higher costs.

  • Roughly 95% of landscape companies are comprised of five or fewer employees, and many companies feature one to two workers who drum up business and clean yards on their own.
  • They compete with a small but growing share of large landscape companies that are being eaten up by private equity firms.

Workers who, on average, make ~$18 per hour, may also be forced to work harder for longer hours.

landscape worker pay

 

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3 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

A couple of years ago I went electric on my lawn mower.  I had gotten absolutely sick of the shitty plastic carbuetors that were used on big box mowers, because they'd crap out in as few as 10-20 uses.  So far, it's been a revelation.  Quiet, durable, zero problems so far.  I mean, it's an electric motor -- not a whole lot can go wrong.  The irony is that I've designed a whole bunch of electric motor/generators in my career.

As far as leaf blowers go, those things should be banned completely.  Moving leaves around from one spot to another makes almost no sense, and doing it with a noxious 2-stroke motor is unconscionable.

the landscaping company that maintains our office building has its offices at our office building.  so we get extra attention.  we have lots of trees.  the leaf blowers start at 9 am and continue well past noon.  and sometimes return later in the afternoon.  conference call?  good luck. 

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1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

To where do you move them?  Why not pick them up or mulch them?

I blow them into the forest behind my house. Nature mulches them. 

I don’t blow them into the street. Only assholes do that. And I really couldn’t if I wanted to, there are so many leaves, it might block the road and my neighbors would murder me 

Edited by Neonmoon
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