BACKGROUND:
The Contra Costa County Climate Action Plan identifies on-road transportation as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Contra Costa County, constituting 45 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 and 47 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2013. The Climate Action Plan calls for a 28 percent reduction in emissions from the on-road transportation sector by 2035.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) has identified car exhaust as the number one source of poor air quality in the summertime, with negative impacts on public health including aggravated asthma, coughing or difficult breathing, decreased lung function, cardiovascular problems, and chronic bronchitis. The U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) estimates that idling in personal vehicles wastes about three billion gallons of fuel and generates about 15 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. U.S. DOE states that eliminating the unnecessary idling of personal vehicles would be the same as taking five million vehicles off the roads.
The Contra Costa County Spare the Air Resource Team, a project of the BAAQMD, has instituted an Idle Free Pledge. Individuals who take the Idle Free Pledge agree that they will turn off their vehicle’s engine when it is parked or not in use, for example when waiting to pick someone up from school, sports practice or the library, or checking email and voicemail. The BAAQMD finds that individual drivers can save fuel and reduce their carbon footprints if they go “idle free.”
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the members of the Board of Supervisors do not take the Idle Free Pledge, the Board will forego an opportunity to publicize and achieve the Climate Action Plan goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:
Reducing greenhouse emissions from the transportation sector can provide cleaner air for Contra Costa County children, and reduce the occurrence of asthma and other health impacts.