Short Fuse
Leaf-blowers: Jet Skis of the backyard
Leaf blowers are noxious noise and air polluters that communities have every right to restrict. Newton first considered a ban on all gas-powered blowers but is now leaning toward a seasonal ban on both gas and electric models. Barring just gas models doesn't make sense if it means landscape contractors bring in diesel-powered generators to run electric blowers. The Newton measure would be targeted at summer use of the whining engines to clean up grass clippings or dirt on lawns and sidewalks. Both noise and air pollution are particularly severe in summer, when windows are open. But a full-year ban should also be considered if that's what it takes to get the lawn-care industry to come up with less-polluting ways to do what rakes and brooms once did perfectly well.
Taxes: Don't soak the homeowner
The business-backed Boston Municipal Research Bureau raised eyebrows last week by backing a Menino administration bill that would give a needed break to residential taxpayers by shifting more of the tax burden on to commercial properties. City homeowners have seen their taxes jump by almost 80 percent over five years while the business rate is at its lowest since 1991. The problem reflects a quirky period when residential values rose sharply while commercial values remained flat. In 2004, business groups agreed to assume a greater share of the levy provided the ceiling would be reduced in later years. But now home values are sinking while commercial properties soar. The even-handed Bureau is right to press for a sensible tax classification system that distributes the burden more fairly. And the Legislature needs to act quickly, before the city sets the tax rate in December.
Immigrants: Trash talk from Chertoff
There are reasons to control illegal immigration to this country, but we didn't think littering was one of the serious ones. Last week Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said building the 700-mile fence along America's border will be a boon for the environment. Apparently, desperate Mexicans risking their lives to cross the desert aren't stopping to look for recycling bins. "Illegal migrants really degrade the environment," Chertoff told the Associated Press. "I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles, and other human artifacts in pristine areas. And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment." The worst thing? From an administration that has set back more environmental regulation than any in history, this comment leaves us breathless. 