Drivers at Pace-Pleasantville Take Heed
February 21, 2017
If you idle your vehicle on campus for more than a few minutes, you are breaking the law!
You’re in luck, however. As part of the efforts of GreenPace (http://www.pace.edu/sustainability/) to reduce this practice as well as educate members of the Pace community, we have created a video masterpiece, in the style of those on the “Funny or Die” website , which you would be wise to check out (go to https://www.facebook.com/GreenPaceSustainabilityCommittee/videos/) or a campus video monitor near you).
It stars members of the Pace University “Green Enforcers”. This feigned group of dedicated student volunteers keeps watch for those among us who, by their shameful actions, disregard the well-being of their schoolmates and thoughtlessly harm our beloved Mother Earth. We have also created and placed road signs and posters at select locations around campus.
Furthermore, the Security and Transportation Offices have been provided with idling policy tags that are clipped to the driver’s visor of Pace University campus vehicles.
What’s gives? Well, read on.
Trek around campus at almost any time and you’re bound to see folks sitting in their cars, delivery or service vehicles while running their engines. They may be waiting to pick someone up, dropping off a package or just killing time before class. If the temperature outside is below 60 degrees F, many people will run their engine and automobile heater to avoid, God forbid, suffering even the most minor real or imagined discomfort.
Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the rest of us, we’ve got some very relevant news. In Westchester, idling one’s vehicle for more than three minutes is illegal. That’s right, ILLEGAL!!! You may feel this is just another example of government run amok or even government tyranny. However, there are many excellent reasons why the law was adopted.
Tailpipe exhaust is nasty stuff and can jeopardize the health of people in the vicinity of or inside the idling vehicle. Some fumes may even seep into nearby buildings where they may compromise not only health but also possibly cognition. (Hey, now you know how to explain to your parents why you didn’t ace your last organic chemistry test).
Individuals with respiratory ailments, including bronchitis, asthma, COPD, and sarcoidosis are especially vulnerable to components in the exhaust but none of us are immune to their pernicious effects. The environment of the planet is harmed also when vehicles are idled. Carbon dioxide is released and this major component of exhaust is a powerful greenhouse gas that is warming our planet. For those readers who don’t accept the evidence of human-caused climate change, ponder this: you’re wasting money.
The common belief that shutting one’s engine off and then turning it back on just a few minutes later will waste fuel is factually wrong. After 30 seconds of idling, you’ll save gas by rotating the ignition switch off and starting up later when you’re ready to embark.
This will also avoid unnecessary wear and tear on your engine while simultaneously preventing an unwelcome visit, when on campus, from the Green Enforcers.
