I had gone into town on my weekly trip to get some groceries and a newspaper. I shut off the ignition of my car and walked into the store. My first stop was the newsstand. I read the headline of the newspaper: “Scientists Sound Warning on Global Warming.” It was an ominous and sobering headline. I choked. While I reflected on the subject of climate change, I spotted the driver of an SUV pulling into the parking lot. He left his SUV running. I started the stopwatch. The driver, a young man in his late twenties, had left the engine idling, the vehicle unattended, and the radio blaring. Upon entering the store, he grabbed the newspaper with the headline about global warming. He gave the newspaper a quick glance and then turned his attention to food shopping. He leisurely strolled through the aisles searching for what I surmised was some kind of treat or surprise. The man had spent exactly 8 minutes and 10 seconds in the store before exiting with the newspaper, some cigarettes, a bag of chips and a large cola. He climbed into his car. However, he didn’t take off right away. Instead, he got on his cell phone and sat there with the car idling for another 4 minutes and 10 seconds. Finally, he ended his chat and took off. Total time: 12 minutes, 20 seconds.

Over 12 minutes of idling with not a care in the world, like it was his birthright.

I thought how ironic it was that the young man had just idled for some 12 minutes after reading the newspaper headline. He evidently made no connection with the stern headlines about global warming and the phenomenon of automobile idling. The newspaper headline should have read: “Reduce Global Warming: Stop Idling.” Perhaps he would have heeded the message. Yet, I have never read such a headline in any newspaper. Nor do we hear it on television or radio news programs.

So, here we are. Countless motorists continue to idle every day across America. Meanwhile, there are millions of Americans who want desperately to do something…to do their part to fight global warming. So I went to one of America’s foremost news sources: CNN.com. They ran a story on global warming and asked readers to send in their suggestions about what they thought they should do about the problem.  But what do the readers talk about? Everything, except idling. Everyone seems asleep at the wheel. I managed to have one of EPA’s staff admit that their information is not being disseminated to the general public. One of Gore’s think-tank advisors has not responded to my entreaty. I feel like I am a lone wolf out there.  Local environmental groups have seriously omitted the subject in their Smart Transportation Initiatives. So much empty rhetoric. So much denial.

I did some research and found out that in 2004 there were approximately 243 million automobiles in the U.S. I figured that right now (2007) there are about 250 million automobiles. Based on this figure and the fact that in the brief span of 5 minutes of idling a car produces .5 lb of greenhouse gases, then:

- If all the motorists (250 million) across the U.S. idled their cars for only 5 minutes a day, they would produce 125 million lbs. of greenhouse gases.

- If half the motorists (125 million) across the United States idled their cars for only 5 minutes a day, they would still produce 62.5 million lbs. of greenhouse gases.

- Realistically, 1 out of every 3 motorists (25 million) across the United States idle their cars for 5-10 minutes a day, producing a minimum of 37.5 million lbs. of greenhouse gases. This is no small number of car owners: 75 million Americans. This is no small amount of greenhouse gases.

Remember we are looking at only 5 minutes of idling. Motorists idle their vehicles an average of 5 to 10 minutes a day. We idle about 40% less in summer, but it still amounts to an enormous waste of fuel.
That’s a lot of people who haven’t made the connection between idling and global warming. Are you puzzled why in this information age we are still blind about this numbing fact? Yes, someone has to take the responsibility for keeping the motoring public in the dark about this. Our local and state governments and the EPA are doing virtually nothing about educating the public about idling. Yes, they have information, according to one of their staff–and he boasted about it–but they’re still failing to communicate this valuable information to the public, to those of us who need to realize that their behavior is threatening the planet.

Contrary to popular belief, idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to warm up your car or truck is to drive it. In fact, with today’s engines, you need no more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days before you start to drive.

The notion that idling is good for your vehicle is passé– in fact, it hasn’t been the right thing to do since the advent of electronic engines. The truth is that excessive idling can damage the engine. Why? An idling engine isn’t operating at its peak temperature, meaning that fuel doesn’t undergo complete combustion. Idling leaves fuel residues that can condense on cylinder walls and that can contaminate oil and damage engine parts. Fuel residues are often deposited on spark plugs.

As you spend more time idling, the average temperature of the spark plug drops. This makes the plug get dirty more quickly, which can, in turn, increase fuel consumption 5 percent. Excessive idling also lets water condense in the exhaust, leading to corrosion and reducing the life of the exhaust system. Idling warms only the engine – not the wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission, and tires. These parts also need to be warmed up, and the only way to do so is to drive the vehicle.

But isn’t restarting hard on the engine? Studies show that frequent restarting has little impact on engine parts such as battery and starter motor. Turn off the engine? Yes. More than 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine. Save gas and money and the environment. Imagine if Americans across the land stopped idling. (Source: Natural Resources Canada, Office of Energy Efficiency).

Now is the time for mobilizing Americans to change their behavior. Hybrid cars aren’t here yet. Neither are electric cars.  Cleaner fuels still emit sulfurous gases. According to the Canadian government, for every liter (about a U.S. quart of gasoline; 3.8 liters = 1 U.S. gallon) of gasoline used, the average car produces about 2.4 kilograms (about 5 lbs.) of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas. This is unavoidable with today’s internal combustion engines. But we can avoid producing unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions by reducing or eliminating wasteful vehicle idling. Emissions from idling vehicles are needless and can be easily prevented– all it takes is the turn of a key.

In Canada, if every driver avoided idling for just 5 minutes a day, more than 1 million tons of CO2 would be prevented from entering the atmosphere each year. That would represent a huge contribution to climate change efforts. In the United States, if every driver avoided idling for just 5 minutes a day, more than 10 million tons of CO2 would be prevented from entering the atmosphere each year. That would represent a staggering contribution to positive climate change efforts.

By Gary Klinga
gary_klinga@yahoo.com

(This article reprinted with permission from the author).

For further information please visit GlobalWarmingSolution.org

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