Michael Benjamin, division chief at the California Air Resources Board states that gas powered gardening equipment produce more pollution than all the cars in California.

The reason for this dramatic shift is the regulations on car exhaust over the past decade.

KQED reports:

According to state air quality officials, those machines are some of the biggest polluters in California. In fact, by 2020, leaf blowers and other small gas engines will create more ozone pollution than all of the passenger cars in the state.

There’s a reason for that: Regulations on car exhaust have gotten tighter and tighter over the years, substantially reducing their ozone-damaging emissions. At the same time, while there have been some controls on the smaller gas engines, there haven’t been enough, says Benjamin.

Pollutants from all of those hedge trimmers and gas chainsaws across the state add up.

“There are about 16 million pieces of small off-road equipment in California. That compares to a vehicle population of about 18 million statewide,” he says.

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