Outdoor Power Equipment Institute
Focused on providing environmental benefits
Submitted by the OPEIThe outdoor power equipment and landscape industries are coming together to promote the fact that responsibly maintained turfgrass and outdoor landscapes provide substantial environmental benefits to our communities. OPEI, on behalf of its members, is dedicated to educating policy makers and consumers on a range of important issues to balance the debate.
OPEI works cooperatively with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on emissions regulations and works to ensure that new regulations are put in place. Once the latest round of regulations is fully implemented, the outdoor power equipment industry will have reduced emissions by 95 percent in just 15 years since it first became regulated.
Global climate change and the regulation of greenhouse gases will be a major undertaking in the next Congress, and we are committed to meeting this challenge head-on and will work with government agencies to do our part.
Carbon benefit of turfgrasses
In the past six months, we’ve explored the carbon issue in more depth. We tasked Dr. Ron Sahu, an independent energy and environment expert, to perform a study on the carbon benefit of turfgrass based on existing scientific studies and models. The report of his findings, titled Technical Assessment of the Carbon Sequestration Potential of Managed Turfgrass in the United States, showed us (and the world) what we suspected all along: A net carbon benefit from well-managed turfgrasses exists.
We have great opportunities to join the carbon offset debate. Why just plant trees to offset carbon emissions, when you can plant turfgrass and have carbon effectively absorbed and sequestered. Cap and trade requirements in climate change legislation could possibly include a carbon credit for removing asphalt and planting turf.
In the year ahead, we plan to remind our community, government, media and consumers that turfgrass has value.
As part of this effort, we will have to address the use of water and establish best management practices on water use. We will educate the public on what, where and when to plant. But, water is an “investment” in landscaping and turfgrass that then brings comprehensive environmental, health and savings benefits.
AllSAFE
One area of vigorous debate is ethanol. Associations representing manufacturers of outdoor power equipment, automobiles, boats, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles and other products have teamed together to form the Alliance for a Safe Alternative Fuels Environment (AllSAFE) – www.allsafe-fuel.org – to address the issue of greater ethanol and cellulosic fuel in the fuels marketplace. AllSAFE’s goal is to protect and educate consumers on the use and effects of ethanol containing fuels and to advocate on behalf of the 250 million Americans who operate some 400 million pieces of legacy equipment before policy makers and regulators.
Finally, while our areas of concern continue to broaden, we remained focused on safety as our core message. We have and remain committed to ensuring our products are used appropriately and safely, working with members to provide consumers with the best and most up-to-date materials.
Continuous education
Now, our tradition of education and cooperation moves forward to our next great challenges: water, climate change and alternative fuels.
In 2008, we announced our sponsorship of a Webinar series for agricultural educators in conjunction with the National FFA Foundation. Ranging from topics on global climate change, agricultural policy, turf grass management and alternative fuels, this Webinar series is directed at the very people that are responsible for preparing young men and women for careers in the science, business and technology of urban agriculture.
Most importantly, and now more than ever, we realize how interconnected we are. Working with PLANET, the American Nursery and Landscape Association, the Irrigation Association and others we intend to educate and affect policy when it comes to one of our country’s best, and until now, overlooked assets: landscapes and turfgrass and their benefits to our world.
About OPEI
The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) is the major international trade association representing the manufacturers and their suppliers of consumer and commercial outdoor power equipment such as lawnmowers, garden tractors, utility vehicles, trimmers, edgers, chain saws, snow throwers, tillers, leaf blowers and other related products. Founded in 1952, the institute is dedicated to promoting the outdoor power equipment industry by undertaking activities that can be pursued more effectively by an association than by individual companies.
It assists, advances, and fosters the economic interest of its membership by providing accurate and timely worldwide information, sponsoring the industry’s international tradeshow, promoting the effective and safe use of outdoor power equipment, and representing the members’ interests in legislative and regulatory affairs. In addition, the institute serves as a forum for the meaningful exchange of ideas and information among the industry members and representatives from the public.
It contributes to the viability of the industry and the welfare of the public by encouraging a long-term view of the political, economic, sociological and technical challenges facing the industry and the impact of these challenges on society.