When I first heard of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s (ADEM) No Idling Campaign, I assumed it was meant to discourage laziness. As a fan and sometime practitioner of laziness, I found myself nearly stirred to act, but not quite. However, that’s not what the campaign is about. Instead it’s meant to discourage buses and other vehicles from running their engines while parked outside and around schools and other places where children gather.
Granted, this is not a problem for me. For one, it would be strange if I were parking near schools, since I’m childless and I don’t work for a school, or with children. Second, even if I were, for some reason, parking near a school, my Honda Civic Hybrid cuts the engine automatically if you’re at a stop and your foot is on the brake. So SUCK MY LIMITED EXHAUST. You feel that? That’s my smug, hybrid-driving ass being better than you. But if you read this paper, you probably drive a hybrid too. So maybe we can compare gas mileage if we pull up next to each other in traffic. And then you can SUCK MY LIMITED EXHAUST.
But school buses and parents often park outside schools, and they sometimes run their engines. And Dr. Tom Miller, a Prattville City Councilor, told Our Prattville that lots of cars and buses running their engines together can sometimes trigger asthma attacks in children, who, Miller noted, are lower to the ground than most adults. That’s why the Prattville school system is implementing the No Idling Campaign.
According to a story posted on the Our Prattville website on Tuesday, Prattville Mayor Jim Byard Jr., Miller and various other officials held a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss the initiative. Byard is urging that schools adopt the program. “No Idling” signs will be installed at Prattville schools, the article said. Signs and information are going out to all schools in the state. Aside from benefiting the air, state officials hope that cutting off bus engines might save the state a little bit of cash.
Another Prattville Councilor, Dean Argo, was one of three finalists for the Executive Director position at ADEM.
If you’d like to find out more about the program, search the ADEM website for “No Idling.” You can view the press conference (which is as fun as watching any small-town press conference) on Youtube by searching for “No Idling Campaign Press Conference.” Watch people talk about how awesome children are over and over again—it’s really fantastic.
Also, SUCK MY LIMITED EXHAUST.
Granted, this is not a problem for me. For one, it would be strange if I were parking near schools, since I’m childless and I don’t work for a school, or with children. Second, even if I were, for some reason, parking near a school, my Honda Civic Hybrid cuts the engine automatically if you’re at a stop and your foot is on the brake. So SUCK MY LIMITED EXHAUST. You feel that? That’s my smug, hybrid-driving ass being better than you. But if you read this paper, you probably drive a hybrid too. So maybe we can compare gas mileage if we pull up next to each other in traffic. And then you can SUCK MY LIMITED EXHAUST.
But school buses and parents often park outside schools, and they sometimes run their engines. And Dr. Tom Miller, a Prattville City Councilor, told Our Prattville that lots of cars and buses running their engines together can sometimes trigger asthma attacks in children, who, Miller noted, are lower to the ground than most adults. That’s why the Prattville school system is implementing the No Idling Campaign.
According to a story posted on the Our Prattville website on Tuesday, Prattville Mayor Jim Byard Jr., Miller and various other officials held a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss the initiative. Byard is urging that schools adopt the program. “No Idling” signs will be installed at Prattville schools, the article said. Signs and information are going out to all schools in the state. Aside from benefiting the air, state officials hope that cutting off bus engines might save the state a little bit of cash.
Another Prattville Councilor, Dean Argo, was one of three finalists for the Executive Director position at ADEM.
If you’d like to find out more about the program, search the ADEM website for “No Idling.” You can view the press conference (which is as fun as watching any small-town press conference) on Youtube by searching for “No Idling Campaign Press Conference.” Watch people talk about how awesome children are over and over again—it’s really fantastic.
Also, SUCK MY LIMITED EXHAUST.