VC Star
June 8, 2024
Last weekend, as my kids were playing in our front yard, an old Toyota Camry parked at the curb near them was idling.
Concerned about the emissions and curious why someone would be crouched down in the front seat of a car with its engine on in front of my house, I approached the driver.
The driver was my new neighbor’s daughter. Trying not to sound accusatory, I asked her why she was idling. Her answer was something I never thought I would hear from a young person: “I’m trying to figure out how to use this cassette player.”
As I started to “mansplain” outdated technology, she stopped me to clarify. She was trying to make the car’s cassette player connect to her Bluetooth device and was attaching a new device to make that possible.
Out of my league with that technology, I bid her good luck. Aware of my unspoken environmental agenda, she added, “I guess I could turn off the engine and just turn on the battery.”
Indeed, although battery life without an engine on is highly variable, depending on the type, age and condition of the battery, and depending on which devices are drawing power, leaving a car in “accessory mode” could certainly energize just a radio for hours without depleting a decent battery.
The reasons to avoid idling are obvious. Most people waste one to two tanks of gas every year by idling, according to Karin Grennan, public information officer with the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. She cites studies concluding that idling for 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting the engine of modern cars with fuel injection. Frequent restarting has little impact on the battery and starter, whereas excessive idling can damage important engine components.
There are also health considerations.
“Pollution from exhaust contributes to lung infections, pneumonia, influenza and asthma, and children are sensitive to lower levels of air pollution than the general public,” according to Grennan.
Unfortunately, idling is common near schools during drop-off and pickup of children. Although it may not be as comfortable to turn off the air conditioner and roll down windows instead of running the engine, there are good reasons for parents to do so.
For heavy-duty vehicles in California, with some exceptions, idling more than five minutes is illegal. School bus idling near schools is allowed “only when necessary for safety or operational concerns,” according to IdleFreeCalifornia.org.
The local air district targeted school bus pollution by awarding $1.56 million in grants to two school districts. Ocean View School District will replace one diesel bus with an electric version and purchase a charging station. Ventura Unified School District will replace two diesel buses with two electric models and buy two charging stations. Grants cover the charging equipment and 87% of vehicle costs. The three new buses will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, by about 1,612 tons per year.
The air district has funded eight school buses since 2019. In fall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency received nearly $1 billion to help school districts replace buses with lower-emitting versions. This month, the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission began accepting applications for $500 million in Zero-Emission School Bus and Infrastructure Grants.
Another program targets high-emission vehicles. The air district’s old car buyback program pays people $1,000 to retire 1997 and older cars. Vehicles must be operational and registered in Ventura County. In seven years, this program has taken more than 300 highly polluting vehicles off local roads.
A more generally targeted grant program, sponsored by the nonprofit Coalition for Clean Air, offers up to $1,000 for projects planned for the week before California Clean Air Day on October 2. Eligible projects include campaigns against idling conducted by local governments, health care organizations or business or community organizations.
Motor vehicles produce more than half of the air pollution in the county, according to Grennan, so programs like these help clean our air.
