Spouting off: How the EPA made it harder to mow my lawn

I used to enjoy mowing the lawn. Now it agitates the heck out of me.

My agitation is the result of the gas-container safety spouts that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has mandated since 2009 – spouts that barely allow gas to come out.

According to Jeffrey Tucker, editorial director at the American Institute of Economic Research, the safety spout originated in California in 2000 because the state government decided it needed to prevent gasoline from being spilled as lawnmower owners filled their tanks.