EDITORIAL : TRIMMING SMOG POUND FOR POUND, POWER MOWERS ARE DIRTIER THAN CARS.

Ladies and gentlemen, stop your engines.

It turns out that one of the worst air-pollution offenders, relatively speaking, is the gasoline-powered lawn mower. According to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, a two-cycle lawn mower emits as much smog-forming pollution as 72 new cars driving at 30 mph.

Add in leaf blowers and vacuums, chain saws, edgers and trimmers - and the amount of volatile organic compounds emitted comes to 22 tons per day - more than is put out by all the aircraft that fly over Los Angeles and Orange counties and parts of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

It's little wonder, then, that the AQMD approved a voluntary program last week to encourage consumers to trade in their gas power mowers. Under the plan, businesses that pay consumers for their old equipment can buy time for themselves and delay compliance with pollution rules, meet smog-cutting requirements or offset smog increases at new or expanding facilities.

In exchange, consumers would find mowers that are cordless, lightweight and powered by rechargeable batteries that can mow up to half an acre on a single charge. If prices become competitive, such electric mowers probably would serve the needs of most people who mow their own lawns. Whether they would be practical for professionals who mow many lawns each day is, however, another question.