Preserving our quality of life

I am disappointed and concerned about the thoughtless behavior that I observe every time I leave my house for an errand in Central Oregon. Whether it's to the grocery, the post office or the school, I see it happening every single day, all day long. It just makes no sense to me.

What I'm taking about is vehicle drivers that leave their vehicles idling when they are parked or even when they leave their vehicles unattended for significant periods.

I'm not talking about a few seconds or one or two cars either.

I routinely see multiple cars sitting idling in a parking lot with their drivers reading the newspaper, texting or talking on their phones or just sitting waiting for another passenger.

At Wal-Mart and Costco I have observed empty vehicles, idling with the doors locked.

This is not about keeping the passenger comfortable either.

Most of these vehicles have the windows open anyway.

People, when asked why they are doing this (and I've asked quite a few times), actually report that they are just too lazy to turn the engine off.

Besides the obvious cost of burning gas when you don't need to or the local pollution effect, which is bad enough, a new concern looms much larger, and that is global warming. If you add up all of these idling vehicles, including school buses, work vehicles and delivery vehicles, the numbers are staggering. Conservative estimates are that 4 million gallons of fuel are wasted each year in the U.S. alone, releasing 80 million pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere.

NOAA has scientifically determined that the severity of the drought across the U.S. this summer is definitely man-made, not a natural climate cycle. The polar caps and Greenland are melting now at an unprecedented rate. This is not just about Eskimos that have to relocate because their sea-ice is diminishing. Global warming is now impacting all of us in the pocket-book, limiting our choices and even endangering our lives. If you think you are somehow immune, you are wrong.

Food prices are expected to increase due to the U.S. drought. FEMA and the states are spending money they don't have on an increasing and significant number of weather-related disasters including floods, drought, tornadoes, wildfires and hurricanes. Commodity prices are higher or certain commodities are unavailable due to flooding in other countries. Fisheries are being affected across the planet, causing wild species to perish, leaving us with only lower-quality farmed fish to eat. The West Nile Virus is an epidemic spreading rapidly due to the extreme weather conditions in Texas over the last two years. These are things that impact every one of us, no matter how rich or poor we are.

There are a lot of myths about idling cars. Here are the facts:

1. Idling your engine for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel that stopping and restarting it.

2. Idling pollution is worse than driving pollution due to engine temperature and efficiency.

3. Engines warm up better by running than idling.

4. Idling fouls sparkplugs and valves and increases corrosion in exhaust systems.

5. Idling reduces oil life by 75 percent.

6. Pollution inside idling cars is worse than driving, particularly endangering children.

7. Modern diesel engines start easily under all conditions.

Twenty states/cities across the U.S. have already enacted anti-idling laws. Oregon enacted a state-wide anti-idling law for large trucks January 1, 2012. Sisters schools have already taken action to protect the children and teachers from local pollution.

You can do your part to help reduce global warming by turning your engine off when parked or leaving your vehicle unattended. It will have a positive impact on you and others.

Steve Nugent lives in Sisters.