"San Jose residents have been clamoring for a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers for years, complaining about their noise and pollution. In response, the City Council began reviewing a proposal to encourage the use of electric leaf blowers through a subsidy program. The city is moving forward with a green subsidy more than a year and a half later - but it won't be for electric leaf blowers. Instead, councilmembers unanimously approved a $100,000 program Tuesday to incentivize local contractors to carry out home heat pump installations."
""We found the contractor incentive will have 10 times more greenhouse gas reductions than the leaf blower pilot for less staff time and funding," Kate Ziemba, program manager with San Jose Clean Energy, said at the meeting. The pilot program will provide enough funding for 15 contractors to install six heat pumps each. The goal is to help local contractors gain experience installing electric appliances before regulators begin phasing out gas heaters in the coming years."
""I'm disappointed and have been disappointed for a long time," neighborhood advocate Marty Stuczynski told San José Spotlight. Stuczynski has been campaigning for years to get the city to enact a ban on gas leaf blowers. He said residents' concerns go well beyond climate emissions. "They're highly air polluting, highly noise polluting - I think they significantly degrade our quality of life," he said. Over the years, San Jose leaders have expressed reluctance to support an outright ban, warning that doing so could harm local landscaping businesses."
San Jose shifted a proposed incentive away from electric leaf blowers and approved a $100,000 program to subsidize contractor installations of home heat pumps. The pilot funds 15 contractors to install six heat pumps each to build local experience before regulators phase out gas heaters. San Jose Clean Energy reported the contractor incentive will deliver ten times more greenhouse gas reductions than a leaf blower pilot with less staff time and funding. Some residents and advocates remain disappointed, citing noise and air pollution from gas-powered leaf blowers and urging an outright ban despite business concerns.
Read at San Jose Spotlight
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