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

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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