EDF and Mayor's Office Collaborate to Reduce Car and Truck Idling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contacts:
Heath Fradkoff, 212-576-2700, ext 232, hfradkoff@goodmanmedia.com
Havelock Nelson, 212-576-2700, ext 235 hnelson@goodmanmedia.com
 
(New York, NY – April 14, 2009) Environmental Defense Fund and the Mayor Bloomberg’s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability today announced the launch of a campaign to increase public awareness of the health, economic and environmental impacts of vehicle engine idling and to persuade city drivers to turn off their engines while waiting at the curb.  
 
“ ‘Turning it off’ is one of the simplest steps any driver can take to help New York’s air quality: it saves money, saves gas and is good for the public’s health,” said Isabelle Silverman, an attorney for the Living Cities program at Environmental Defense Fund. “Idling for more than 10 seconds wastes more fuel than restarting the engine. That’s why the campaign’s message is so simple: turn it off!   Our campaign makes clear that eliminating idling cleans the air right where New Yorkers live, work and go to school.”
 
Idling vehicles in New York City annually produce 940 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, the equivalent of 9 million large trucks driving from Hunts Point in the Bronx to Staten Island.  Research shows that exposure to pollution at street-level can be worse than regional measures of air quality, and traffic pollution is linked to: asthma attacks, heart disease, cancer, and impaired intelligence in children.
 
The anti-idling campaign is supported by GreeNYC, New York City’s campaign for a greener, greater New York, and EDF’s portion of the campaign is funded by the Hinkle Charitable Foundation.  It starts this week with radio advertisements, message boards, billboards on highly trafficked locations across the city, and MTA bus tails that feature the GreeNYC bird trapped behind a car tailpipe with the message “Turn it off!” The campaign also makes it clear that idling is against the law and dispels common myths.
 
The GreeNYC website, www.nyc.gov/greenyc, provides tips for the public to reduce idling. In addition, a recent EDF report, “Idling Gets You Nowhere,” that details the health, economic and environmental costs of idling, is available online at www.edf.org/stopidling.  New York City vehicles waste approximately $28 million annually in fuel by idling, based on a $2.00 per gallon average gasoline price and a $2.50 per gallon average diesel price.
 
As of Spring 2009, a wider range of agencies can enforce the law:  NYPD’s Traffic Enforcement Agents, Department of Sanitation, and the Department of Parks & Recreation now have the ability to issue tickets, in addition to the Department of Environmental Protection.  In February, Mayor Bloomberg also signed a law limiting the time drivers can idle their engines while standing in school zones from three minutes to one minute.
 
“Reducing idling is a simple way for drivers to do their part to help New York achieve the cleanest air of any big city in America, one of the goals of PlaNYC,” added Silverman. “By engaging drivers around the benefits of turning their engines off at the curb, the campaign can be a model for other cities.”

 

One of the world’s leading international nonprofit organizations, Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org) creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. With more than 3 million members and offices in the United States, China, Mexico, Indonesia and the European Union, EDF’s scientists, economists, attorneys and policy experts are working in 28 countries to turn our solutions into action. Connect with us on Twitter @EnvDefenseFund