9 year old girl's $140,000 anti-idling ad campaign
Anna Talman, 9, noticed it was hard to breathe when cars are idling. "I saw a car idling and thought it would be a problem because it was making it hard for me to breathe" she says. So she did what any other 9 year old would do. Move? No. She started a group, Edmonton's Children-Organized Anti-Idling Recruiters (ECO-AIR), and tried to get a law passed by the Edmonton city council. "When they're idling in front of their house or waiting to pick up their kids from school, or at the drive in at McDonald's, that's when I want to change it," she explains.She did not get her law but the council did support anti-idling policy for city vehicles and a $140,000 ad campaign against idling. The campaign will create "idle-free" zones and include print, electric advertising and signs reminding drivers to turn off their cars at drive throughs and parking lots. "I'm glad that the motion was passed. I think it will make a difference" responds Anna. But not everyone is happy. Councilman Mike Nickel said he cannot support it. He says, "when it's -40 C out there and you want to leave your car running to keep it warm ... you're going to have the idling police come up to you and tell you to turn off your car?" He also thinks the costs will balloon. "Today it starts at $140,000 and you wait, it will be $250,000 and it will be up to $500,000."
The campaign must still be approved later this year in the budget. Anna says she won't stop trying to get a law passed. "I don't know. That's one thing I'm stuck on to do" she says.
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[Source: Canada.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TLover 9:42AM (8/23/2007)
Does little Anna know that idiling (for a certain amount of time) is actually better for gas mileage, and thus better for the enviroment? That is just concerning unleaded vehicles, diesel is even more efficient if it is idiling versus start and stop.
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Tim 9:34AM (8/23/2007)
Most people idle for cabin air conditioning. Fitting cars with electric air conditioning and larger or secondary batteries would solve the cooling problem.
Cabin heat is another matter.
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ThunderStik 10:36AM (8/23/2007)
Also starters and ingition switches going out prematurely.
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pkuhl 10:54AM (8/23/2007)
TLover,
You understand that gas-electric hybrids stop the engine nearly everytime the car idles for fuel efficiency, right? That's what mine does.
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Lascelles 10:55AM (8/23/2007)
Pkuhl, Some gas car do that too. Maybe Anna should fight for a law requiring all cars include this technology.
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Snark 11:20AM (8/23/2007)
"Does little Anna know that idiling (for a certain amount of time) is actually better for gas mileage, and thus better for the enviroment?"
Better for gas mileage or not, it's still harfing out tons of particulate matter, nitrous oxides, and creating smog and ground-level ozone. Gas mileage ain't everything.
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L1G 11:41AM (8/23/2007)
TLover has right for his first sentence, an that depends the car and the engine type, but it was proved that idle-free is generally efficient only if we stay more than 20seconds because the engine control unit will reload the battery immediately after the start and not during brake as do now BMW with his "Fuel Efficiency" program.
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rgseidl 12:11PM (8/23/2007)
In a conventional drivetrain, idling for more than 20-30 seconds will use more fuel than stopping and restarting the engine. That's why an increasing number of new cars feature microhybrid systems (BMW, Citroen, with Opel to follow soon). VW tried them before (e.g. Lupo) but abandoned them because customers reported the system wasn't always able to restart the engien quickly enough for their liking. The more powerful second gen has fixed those problems, with a third gen featuring ultracaps targeted at diesel LDVs which need more power to restart.
Of course, every mild and full hybrid also supports idle-stop operation, but their numbers may be dwarfed by the far less expensive microhybrid systems in coming years.
Two often-quoted reasons for extended idling are heat and a/c.
If you live in a place subject to very severe winters, you can install a stationary heater that provides cabin heat with much higher efficiency and much lower emissions. Keeping the engine hot and diesel fuel liquid is an issue for commercial vehicles because thermal cycling reduces the life expectancy of an engine. Here, too, a stationary heater could keep the engine coolant, oil and fuel warm enough to avoid consequences.
The loss of A/C is harder to compensate. However, most stop-start events are shorter than 40s in duration. Even with a full complement of passengers and sweltering heat, this brief period can be briged with the addition of a latent cold store in the A/C system.
http://www.all4engineers.com/index.php;do=show/site=a4e/lng=en/id=6037/alloc=3
In other words, little Anna has a valid point about emissions and there are technological fixes for the problems that a lack of idling can bring. Stationary heaters are often available options that may be retrofitted. Latent cold store A/C systems are very new and not yet available in new cars, never mind retrofit kits.
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MikeW 12:19PM (8/23/2007)
Some german cars still have REST residual energy storage transfer. When the hot engine is stopped, a coolant pump still circulates hot coolant to the heater core. Good for up to 1/2 hour.
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Don 5:46PM (8/23/2007)
Geeze. Thanks, brat...now we can't idle anywhere?
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Chris P. 7:09PM (8/23/2007)
I can see it to warm up the car in extremely cold temps. Other than that, forget it. I hate when I see people leaving their cars running when they run in the store, or stopped at the railroad tracks. In my city, an unattended car idling is illegal. So yes, the idling police do come tell you to turn it off. And the old adage that it uses more fuel to start it than leave it running is a myth.
What's the problem with turning your car off? Do you have an unalienable right to burning gas for no reason, and polluting the public air? I'm pretty sure you don't.
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Kevin White 12:04PM (8/24/2007)
Driving pollutes. Perhaps we should all have to prove the importance of each trip we take. Any unnecessary driving could be prohibited. Or you could have a certain small allotment of "discretionary miles" each week. Driving to a restaurant, when there is food at home? Unnecessary and polluting. Forget the idling, let's keep drivers from even being able to drive except when absolutely necessary.
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Tim 2:33PM (8/24/2007)
Kevin White- Ever heard of the right to travel?
You’re suggesting that we put a cop on every corner who can ask for the travel papers, destination and reason for every trip. We can give him a little blue helmet and a German Sheppard dog... papers please! If he thinks your trip is not “necessary” you could be fined or arrested.
Leftist Socialist Nazi! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi
Be very careful what you ask for, you just may get it.
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Kevin White 5:30PM (8/24/2007)
Tim -- sarcasm.
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Tim 6:13PM (8/24/2007)
Kevin White- Sorry, my bad!
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Dawn 12:22AM (8/28/2007)
People, people, why don't you quit looking for lousy excuses to idle, get the facts, go to
http:/oee.nrcan.gc.ca/communities-government or
"idling myths". How about we all do our part, it's not hard, and it's good for us.
Dawn
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