Cate Blanchett, Barack Obama and Ryan Dorsey may seem an unlikely trio — the first played an ethereal, all-powerful elf in a movie, the second led the free world for eight years and the third is a Baltimore councilman who really likes riding his bike — but they all share a common enemy: the gas-powered leaf blower.

And now Dorsey, who represents Northeast Baltimore, is on the cusp of vanquishing his much maligned foe. The Health, Environment, and Technology Committee voted Wednesday to advance a bill that would ban their use within city limits, with offenders subject to fines. The full council will vote on the bill a first time Monday, and should it pass as expected, will vote a second and final time at a later meeting.

“Gas-powered leaf blowers are effectively pollution generation machines,” Dorsey said.

The evidence supports the councilman’s position. One 2011 estimate found that running a standard gas leaf blower for 30 minutes emits the same amount of hydrocarbons as driving a high-performance Ford F-150 from Alaska to Texas. Another report estimated that national carbon dioxide emissions from lawn and garden equipment in 2020 were higher than all greenhouse gas emissions for the entire city of Los Angeles that year.

To top it off, they’re noisy to the point of annoyance. The hum of the backpack blower can penetrate into the deepest recesses of one’s mind. Obama, at the Democratic National Convention, compared the neighbor who runs their blower nonstop to Donald Trump, the embattled former president whose polarizing rhetoric, for Democrats, may strike a similar tone as the drone of a two-stroke Husqvarna.

But the proposed City Council measure would not mean a return to the Luddite past of the garden rake. They make electric leaf blowers now, and although their blowing power is not as robust as the combustion engine, they tend to be quieter.

Baltimore also would not be the first to pass such a ban. California outlawed them. So did Washington, D.C., and, even closer to home, Montgomery County.

There would also be a phase-in period for private residents. Should the ban pass, Baltimoreans would be permitted to use a gas-powered blower between Oct. 15 and Dec. 15 every year until 2027, when they would be completely outlawed. Dorsey said that window should give residents time to purchase an electric blower while also still allowing for leaf removal during peak foliage loss periods.

City agencies and commercial landscapers would have to act faster — they would be banned from using the gas blowers starting Dec. 15 of this year.

Anne Arundel County had a similar bill but withdrew it after backlash from private landscapers. But Dorsey said Mayor Brandon Scott’s office and the various city departments that deal with debris cleanup are on board with his bill.

“All of the city agencies who contract with landscaping companies spoke to those landscaping companies, and they don’t have any problem making that transition,” the councilman said.

So, gas-powered blowers beware. It appears your days are numbered.