Lawns getting greener

The Environmental Protection Agency is moving up the restrictions on emissions fron many small engines. This will include outboard motors lawnmowers. Those new, small conbustion engines will have to get cleaner over the next few years.

Perhaps they can couple that move with a little public education to offset rampant ignorance behind the widespread lawning of America? We got the brilliant idea of lawns from English gardens. England has the cool, damp climate for that sort of thing. In much of the arid two-thirds of America lawns are not just unnatural but hugely wasteful: of energy, of fertilizer and water for irrigation. Lawns may grow well in climates like Ireland and alpine slopes. Not so well in Colorado or New Mexico. And how about some environmentally responsible golf courses (I know, silly idea, golf is for those who can afford whatever they can afford, screw the planet) in Nevada or Arizona that use stone or sand or even astroturf instead of huge swaths of energy-intensive, irrigated "lawn" for the greens? You gotta hand it to the golfers, they helped launch the electric car(t) which is growing in popularity.