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Edmunds: Leaf blower pollutes more than Ford Raptor


USA TODAY



The Ford Raptor big-engine pickup, which environmental advocates love to hate for its poor fuel economy(13 mpg in combined city/highway driving) and its aggressive, shameless statement as a go-buggy, pollutes less than a common leaf blower, according to tests by Edmunds.com.

The Raptor also did better on some emissions tests than the Fiat 500 minicar, Edmunds.com says.

Edmunds has questioned how much good the government's increasingly strict fuel-economy standards will do to reduce emissions. Here's Edmunds.com's summary of the pollution report pitting two different leaf blowers against the Raptor and the Fiat:

The tests found that a Ryobi four-stroke leaf blower kicked out almost seven times more oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and 13.5 times more carbon monoxide (CO) than the Raptor, which InsideLine.com once called "the ultimate Michigan mudslinger." An Echo two-stroke leaf blower performed even worse, generating 23 times the CO and nearly 300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) than the Raptor.

"The hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yard work with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor," said Jason Kavanagh, engineering editor at Edmunds.com. "As ridiculous as it may sound, it is more 'green' to ditch your yard equipment and find a way to blow leaves using a Raptor.