Municipalities should “Walk The Walk” on Emissions Control
Brian Shifman and Rebekah McGurran
Smog is killing us! Three million people die each year from air pollution worldwide, 65,000 in the US, and 5,800 in Ontario alone. Asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung and heart disease are rising at an alarming rate. These cardio-pulmonary diseases are directly linked to toxic particles emitted by exhaust pipes and other fossil fuel burning engines in use all around us. In fact, exposure to air pollution will cost Ontario almost eight billion dollars this year in health care and lost productivity.
The link between air pollution and health problems has been well documented, especially for the elderly, children, and for those who suffer from respiratory and cardiac problems. Studies have shown that air pollution can:
- Increase and aggravate asthma
- create disease in the airways of children;
- increase respiratory illness in children;
- damage the lungs;
- increase deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular disease;
- increase hospital admissions for lung and heart conditions;
- cause chest pain and nausea;
- cause shortness of breath and laboured (faster) breathing;
- can permanently change lung structure; and
- lead to premature death, increased hospital admissions, more emergency room visits and higher rates of absenteeism.
Who is Responsible for Clean Air?
What are we really doing about this problem, and more importantly, who is responsible for clean air? At the municipal level, there are fleets of service vehicles, trucks, maintenance equipment, generators, lawn-mowers, leaf-blowers and more that are producing toxic emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides into the air. As individuals, we all play a major part in achieving clean air through the decisions we make. At the same time, all levels of government have important roles and responsibilities related to planning, regulating, monitoring and reporting on air emissions and air quality. The choices municipalities make every day, from the way they maintain equipment to the products they buy, inevitably affect the quality of the air we breathe.
This is an issue which transcends levels of government but really has the most relevance at the municipal level. As we start to ask more questions about air pollution, it becomes clearer that the isolated local effects that used to be ignored by averaging them out are, in fact, very important.
Awareness campaigns and anti-idling bylaws are a start, but they don’t get to the root of the problem: stopping the pollution at the source. Municipalities have to be more proactive in attacking this problem, and there are available options.
New Technologies Exist To Solve These Problems
There is a new technology developed by a Canadian company, Global Emission Systems that can have a dramatic effect on the emissions of vehicles and other fossil fuel burning engines in use today. This solution known as the Dry Selective Catalyst (DSC) enables you to keep your existing vehicles and equipment operating with minimal additional cost, requiring a simple swap-out, swap-in of the muffler. No special skills are required and there are no electronic components that are prone to failure. These “GESi™” units are cost effective and are now commercially available.
GESi™ is a new technology emissions control device that can reduce up to 100% of hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in gas vehicles, natural gas vehicles, and virtually any reciprocating engine. It reduces emissions from any application and fuel source -- gas, alcohol, diesel, natural gas, propane, methane, bio-fuels and more. It comes in various shapes and sizes depending on the application and fuel source. Basically, a GESi™ is an amazing breakthrough in emissions technology.
The application for GESi™ units is wide and varied including: automobiles, generator plants, forklift trucks, school buses, diesel machinery, maintenance equipment, municipal fleets, construction machinery, industrial motors, road equipment, utility vehicles, diesel generators, taxis, trucks, performance cars etc.
The City of Vaughan -- “The City Above Toronto” -- has researched and tested this new technology on some older vehicles and is excited about the opportunity to solve Vaughan’s emissions concerns. Vaughan has always been in the forefront of new environmental initiatives and plans to look into implementing this new technology in the spring of 2007. According to Frank Miele, Commissioner of Economic/Technology Development and Communications, “We believe that when we discover new positive ways to eliminate harmful pollution, we should take a leadership role and implement them. There is no sense in talking about a problem if you can actually do something about it. After all, we are responsible to our citizens to provide a better way of life in our community, and making the air cleaner to breathe should be a priority.”
In addition to the obvious benefit of clean air, the advantages to Vaughan and other municipalities of this new technology are multiple:
- eliminate the need to replace older vehicles with newer expensive hybrids
- dramatically improve the safety of vehicle and equipment operators
- eliminate harmful and dangerous carbon monoxide from the workplace
- eliminate the need to take vehicles off the road on smog days
- make equipment safe when operated in or around highly populated areas
- increase operating efficiency of older equipment and save on fuel costs
Such technology needs to be legally mandated, and a tough program implemented for retrofitting existing engines, whether they are used on or off-road. Furthermore, purchasing policies should be modified to ensure that any new vehicles or equipment purchased should have this technology available.
A Word About Diesel Pollution
Diesel emissions are a contributor to both ozone and fine particle non-attainment pollution and diesel emissions are at least ten times as high as those from gasoline. There is a growing concern about exposure of children to diesel emissions riding on or waiting for school buses. Fortunately there are cost-effective emission control technologies (GESi™) that can dramatically reduce these emissions. The development of programs to encourage these technologies at the municipal level will have dramatic health and economic advantages for your community.
Summary
Pollution prevention and cleaning up the environment cannot be accomplished without action. Leaders in the community can develop policies that encourage environmental awareness and provide mechanisms to help build the ethic of preventing pollution. Small communities are in a unique position to make things happen and to win the battle against pollution. Local governments can encourage and stimulate the practice of pollution prevention at all levels: industry and manufacturing, private and public business (including agriculture, transportation, energy generators, hospitals and schools), and individual citizens of the community.
Air pollution is not simply an annoyance. It affects our ecosystem, our health, our economy and contributes to climate change. Clean air allows our children to grow up with a much lower chance of developing asthma or other health problems. A high quality environment is a lasting legacy for future generations.
Set pollution prevention as a major goal and integrate the concept into governmental activities. Publicly recognize pollution prevention as a priority. Practice what you preach, set an example, and “walk the walk.”
Note: Information about new GESi™ technology can be obtained by visiting the Global Emissions Systems website at www.GESI.CA.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gregory Johnston is a marketing generalist with over 35 years’ experience in developing media campaigns for institutional, governmental, retail and service companies, and has won awards both locally and internationally. Notable media campaigns such as Vaughan, “The City Above Toronto”, The Pizza Wars, and Blue Jay Songs have generated marketing press and articles in major national newspapers and marketing magazines. Clients have included Weston’s Bakeries, Molson’s, Chum FM, Toronto Blue Jays, ITT, and municipal government advertising work for: Vaughan, Markham, Scarborough, Hamilton, Kitchener, and St. Thomas.