Gentlemen (and gentlewomen, too), shut off your engines.

That’s the message from Alberta’s Climate Change Central, which has teamed up with the federal government and the Sierra Club of Canada on a $300,000 campaign to reduce vehicle idling and cut air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Alberta Reduce Idling Campaign, launched earlier this week in Edmonton and Calgary, will encourage Alberta drivers to turn off their vehicles’ engines when idling for more than 10 seconds – except in traffic.

The month-long campaign includes public awareness advertising and events at 20 schools and 11
service stations in Edmonton and Calgary to directly engage motorists. “Vehicle idling is tough on the environment, on Albertans’ health and on our vehicles, so it makes good sense environmentally and economically to start changing this driving habit,” says Alberta Environment Minister Lorne Taylor.

Campaign partners say that if every one of Alberta’s 2.3 million registered vehicles was idled five minutes less per day, it would reduce carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming by 302,000 tonnes a year.

Motorists would also save 125 million litres of fuel and $87 million.

“Reducing vehicle idling is a prime example of how individuals can make a big difference in reducing
emissions with a small change in their behaviour,” says Allan Amey, president and CEO of Climate Change Central, a private-public organization co-ordinating efforts to reduce greenhouse gases across Alberta.

Natural Resources Canada is contributing $140,000 to the campaign, Climate Change Central $120,000 and the Sierra Club’s prairie chapter $40,000.

The City of Calgary has a policy that prohibits employees from parking city vehicles with the engine running for more than five minutes, unless essential to perform a job or in extreme cold. Edmonton is expanding its Fuel Sense education and awareness program as part of the campaign, and also has a limited idling policy with Edmonton Transit.

Other partners that will be distributing information include Alberta Environment, Alberta Transportation, the Calgary Health Region, the Alberta Motor Association and the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute.


Web watch:
www.climatechangecentral.com