True Green Machines: Environmentally friendly engines are closer than you think

摘要

Along, drawn-out power struggle has been raging between clean air proponents and small engine makers. The fight reached the U.S. Senate floor in 2003, instigated by California air regulators demanding tougher rules on emissions from lawn mowers and garden equipment. On the clean air side, environmentalists point to studies that indicate an old mower coughs out 15 times the amount of pollutants as a new car. In an effort to cut into these emissions via regulation in 2002, the Los Angeles region's South Coast Air Quality Management District pushed for stringent controls on small engines, such as adding fuel catalysts, improving carburetors and installing leakproof fuel tanks.