Two Minnesota liberals introduce legislation to ban non-electric lawn equipment by January 1, 2025

Yesterday, two liberal lawmakers, Representative Jerry Newton (D-Coon Rapids) and Representative Heather Edelson (D-Edina), introduced new legislation that would adopt a California-style ban on the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment in Minnesota by January 1, 2025. The bill applies to lawnmowers, leaf blowers, hedge clippers, chainsaws, lawn edgers, string trimmers, and brush cutters if the engine is smaller than 25 horsepower.

According to Bob Vila’s website, this would effectively outlaw any push-mower that is gas-powered, and it would impact most riding lawnmowers, which use engines topping out at 24 horsepower, as well.

While electric leaf blowers or hedge clippers may work fine for urban and suburban dwellers, these tools are entirely insufficient for anyone who needs to do serious work out in the country. Felling trees or cutting firewood on a wood lot with a battery-powered electric chainsaw? Give me a break.

This legislation wisely leaves snowblowers off the list of contraband, but its introduction demonstrates that urban and suburban liberals have no idea how rural Minnesotans live their lives, and it suggests that they don’t care to learn.

You can read the text of the bill, which is House File 1715, below:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. 

[325F.187] FOSSIL FUEL POWERED LAWN AND GARDEN
EQUIPMENT; PROHIBITION.

(a) On and after January 1, 2025, new lawn and garden equipment sold, offered for sale,
or distributed in or into Minnesota must be powered solely by electricity.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the meanings given:

(1) “lawn and garden equipment” means any of the following types of equipment powered by a spark ignition engine rated at or below 19 kilowatts or 25 gross horsepower:

(i) lawnmower;

(ii) leaf blower;

(iii) hedge clipper;

(iv) chainsaw;

(v) lawn edger;

(vi) string trimmer; or

(vii) brushcutter; and

(2) “spark ignition engine” means an internal combustion engine in which the air-fuel
mixture is ignited by a spark.