JANUARY 2020.VOL. 20, NO. 01. PORTLAND, MAINE.
ReCode Portland: Online commenting available, Pg. 3
Report from CMP Corridor public hearing on Pgs. 8-9
STRIVING TO BE IDLE-FREE
The Idle-Free Portland banner is moving around the city and can be seen at Reiche school in the West End until mid-January. This local campaign asks you to do the -Photo by Tony Zeli community a simple favor: Please turn your engine off! By Tony Zeli, Publisher-Editor
The Portland Palate does LB Kitchen/ West End, Pg. 21
What does a dwarf have to do with Polish history? Pg.22
Page 5… Reader response to fluoride commentary Page 6… Who’s performing at Hear Here 2020 Page 10… Pillars of Portland: Fred Forsley Page 11… FAQ on Osteoporosis by Northern Light Mercy Hospital Page 14… Portland Buy Local looks to the next decade Page 19… Astrological forecast for the New Year Page 20… 2020 trivia game and word puzzles
PORTLAND’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. FREE!
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The transportation sector was the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, and 59% of those emissions “You know you see no idling signs came from passenger vehicles. (EPA) around different places and so on, and Myth busted. then you see people sitting right in front of them with their cars running as they scroll You need to warm up your car bethrough their messages,” notes Rosanne fore driving it in the winter. It’s a myth! Graef, a member of PCAT and regular Although, it used to be true. Before the contributor to The West End News. 1980s, cars had carburetors to regu-
We’re well into the season of remote starters and the start and scrape, as we all struggle to warm our cars against the bitter and dangerous cold. But, the Portland Climate Action Team (PCAT) wants you to think twice before you idle your car.Their message is simple: it’s bad for the Given grim statistics and a lack of environment, bad for our health, wastes noticeable enforcement, Rosanne and a fuel, and is just plain gross. So, please, just subcommittee of PCAT members decided turn your engine off. to take action. The idle-free campaign preTo get everyone on board, this group sented itself as an effort in which anybody of local environmentalists sponsored by could take part. the Sierra Club, are jump starting the Idle“Not everybody can start biking to Free Portland campaign. You may know work. Not everybody can afford an elecPCAT from some of their other success- tric car, and so on… But idle-free was es. They were a prime mover behind the something we thought was meaningful and municipal solar array at the Ocean Avenue doable.” Landfill. And they share their Bright Ideas Their first focus is on schools, where every month in our Climate Justice secparents idle while dropping off and picking tion. up children, who are particularly vulnerThey ask that you consider the price able to toxic car exhaust fumes. PCAT we all pay for the convenience of idling. would like to speak with your PTO or According to the US Department of En- green team about sharing informational ergy, personal vehicle idling wastes about postcards designed by the former pubthree billion gallons of fuel every year. lisher of The West End News and local That’s generating 30 million tons of CO2 cartoonist, Ed King. He also designed the annually, and costing Americans $13 mil- banner. lion dollars every day! Eliminating unTheir other focus is on Casco Bay necessary idling of just personal vehicles Bridge with the message: Bridge up. Engine would be the same as taking five million off. More than 32,000 vehicles cross this vehicles off the roads. draw bridge each day. PCAT’s advice, if Idling is also bad for your lungs. you’re unlucky enough to get caught when The pollutants in car exhaust fumes have the bridge is up, take the opportunity to been linked to serious human illnesses turn off your car, step out, and enjoy the including asthma, heart disease, chronic view. bronchitis, and cancer. Children are espeThe PCAT Idle-Free committee has cially at risk: exposures during pregnancy also gotten the Secretary of State to agree and early childhood to roadside air polto put information about the importance lution have been linked to higher rates of of reducing unnecessary idling in the next subsequent respiratory and developmenedition of the Maine Driver Education tal problems, according to a study pubManual. They’re working on the Comlished in 2009 by “Pediatrics.” mercial and Motorcycle learners’ manuals For these reasons it’s illegal to idle in next, a bigger hurdle since those are nasome places, including the City of Port- tionally produced. land. Technically, you’re not supposed to I asked Rosanne how she would reidle for more than five minutes within the spond to anyone who says, “Hey, it’s wincity limits, commercial or residential vehiter and I’ve got to warm up my car.” cles, subject to a $25 ticket. (There is an exception if the temps are below 0 deRosanne, having grown up in rural grees.) Of course, just saying so doesn’t Maine in the 1950s, didn’t hesitate: “You make it so. It’s difficult to enforce, and do warm up your car by driving it… and a people even notice the signs? little discomfort never killed anybody.”
late the fuel to air mixture. Carburetors needed to be warmed up to work properly in cold weather. Today’s vehicles have replaced carburetors with fuel injection systems. Now, idling is not only unnecessary but can even be excessive. In fact, the modern catalytic converter, which reduces emissions, operates sooner when driving.
The solution. Even on cold days, the general recommendation is to idle the vehicle for no more than 30 seconds and then drive off gently. The engine and interior cabin will both warm up more quickly when the car is moving. Also, don’t worry about starting and stopping. Today’s starters and batteries are much more durable than they were back in the day.
Places to avoid idling. Turn off the engine whenever you are: dropping someone off (especially at schools), in line at drive-throughs, at ATMs, at car washes, stuck in traffic, in driveways, when parked scrolling on your phone, or anytime you are waiting for longer than 10 seconds.
Do you know of a good spot to hang the Idle-Free Portland banner? It’s 30 ft. long and 3½ ft. high. Contact Rosanne Graef at lavidalocalwen@gmail.com.