The global warming impact of leaf blowing and other gas powered yard care is actually staggering. Those 2 stroke engines are awful in terms of efficiency and the partial combustion releases gases hundreds of times more potent than CO2.
Blowing your yard can be a bigger CO2 impact than commuting 2 hours a day. The article states 1100 miles worth of driving. I've seen estimates saying 30 minutes of blowing your yard is the equivalent of driving a f150 from Alaska to Texas.
Electric leaf blowers are the only real solution and it needs to be federal legislation.