Ban leaf blowers to clear our air

I am a resident of Fresno and have grown concerned over Fresno outranking larger cities as the dirtiest place in America. We have consistently led the nation for over 10 years and lack leadership in taking action toward cleaning up our act and air.

The dirty air that we all breathe is a combination of toxins and are contributors to lung cancer, COPD and asthma. Cities across California are taking the initiative to ban all leaf blowers that continue to pick up dust and increase particulate matter.

Cities that have already taken measures to ban leaf blowers are: Berkeley, Belvedere, Claremont, Del Mar, Hermosa Beach, Laguna Beach, Lawndale, Los Angeles, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Malibu, Mill Valley, Palo Alto, Piedmont, San Monica, Sonoma and West Hollywood, with more cities following suit.

Is it not time that we stop playing Russian roulette with our lives and start taking action on the things that we can control? We all deserve to breathe clean air and deserve leadership that will lead the nation in finding solutions to our problems.

This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Ban leaf blowers to clear our air."