City of Newark Kicks Off Anti-Idling Campaign For Better Air Quality, Health And Savings Benefits

NEWARK – Federal, state, city and school officials gathered this morning at Newark High School to kick off a citywide anti-idling awareness campaign for cleaner air, better health and savings at the gas pump.

Newark Mayor Vance Funk was joined by DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara, U.S. EPA Region III Administrator Shawn M. Garvin, Christina School District Superintendent Dr. Freeman Williams, Deborah Brown, president and CEO of the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, and other officials to announce the campaign, which was created to promote awareness of Newark’s anti-idling ordinance. Passed in 2009, the ordinance restricts idling of personal motor vehicles within city limits.

“By promoting energy efficiency, clean energy, low-emission vehicles, interconnected trails, and today's idling ordinance, Newark is emerging as a statewide leader in ensuring clean air and saving money for its residents,” said DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara. “I congratulate the Newark City Council, the Newark Conservation Advisory Commission, and city officials for being the first to adopt an ordinance that will improve air quality and public health by reducing emissions from idling personal vehicles, commercial trucks, and buses.”

The Newark Conservation Advisory Commission, an advisory group to the Newark City Council, designed and coordinated Newark’s Anti-Idling Campaign, with a $15,000 grant through DNREC’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Projects Fund. In addition to signage posted, the grant covers public service announcements, advertising and video, design and production of audio and visual displays, and brochures, flyers and mailers to promote the campaign.

“Passing the anti-idling ordinance was part of the city’s efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and make a positive impact on air quality,” said Newark Mayor Vance Funk. “Now, with this outreach campaign, the Newark driving public can learn about the anti-idling law, why it’s important, and how each of us can make a difference.”

To kick off the campaign, the City of Newark introduced its new “Stop Idling – It’s the Law” signage, with 11 signs newly posted where students are dropped off and picked up at the high school. More than 300 of the signs will be placed in strategic locations throughout the city to remind drivers not to leave their engines running while parked.

“The Commission’s goal in this outreach campaign is to influence Newark drivers to eliminate daily idling. If as few as a quarter of Newark drivers would simply turn off their engines just half the time, we could potentially reduce carbon emissions by at least 1.7 to 2.6 million pounds per year,” said Thomas Fruehstorfer, chair of the Newark Conservation Advisory Commission. “Besides breathing cleaner air, drivers will enjoy the added benefit of wasting less gas while reducing fuel consumption and costs.”

Warming up a vehicle is the most common reason given for idling. Many drivers also have become accustomed to idling cars in the morning, at the ATM, at the drive-thru for lunch, when picking up children from school, while using a cell phone, or while waiting to pump gas.

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