Energy fair to highlight idling

By Nick Grabbe
Staff Writer

Published on September 12, 2007

At schools and on the Amherst common, the lesson over the next week will be that idling engines endanger children's health and waste precious resources.

Next week, a sign will be installed in the parking lot of Amherst Regional High School, reminding motorists and bus drivers of the state law that limits idling to five minutes, said Peter Vickery of the Amherst Energy Task Force. Vickery will be at the town common Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to promote the anti-idling message at the town's third annual Energy Fair.

Pupils will take home a letter next week asking parents not to idle their engines while waiting to pick up their children, he said.

Superintendent Jere Hochman has taken the initiative to combat idling by school buses, urging drivers to keep their lights flashing while turning off their engines, Vickery said. There could be an idling provision in the next bus contract, he said.

Meanwhile, the Amherst Regional Middle School's "green team" has done a study of bus idling and found that it often exceeds the five-minute limit. Some buses have idled their engines for as long as 23 minutes, the study found. "Buses and cars idling is really detrimental to the health of children, because it can get into the school building," said Vickery. "And it's a waste of gas and money. There just isn't enough gas to go around."

The state's anti-idling law has been on the books since the 1970s, and in 2004 Town Meeting approved a measure urging its enforcement. But there has been little action, Vickery said.

After 10 seconds, it becomes more expensive to idle an engine than to turn it off and start it up again later, and idling causes fuel to burn at an incorrect temperature, he said.

This year, a representative of H&R Block will be at the fair to explain tax credits for installing energy-efficient appliances or retrofitting a house, said coordinator Stephanie Ciccarello. Architect Jeremy Dietz will provide information on green building design, she said.

There will be a demonstration of a car that runs on natural gas, she said. The 34 vendors at the fair will include solar and biodiesel businesses and nonprofit organizations, she said. "There's been so much in the news lately about global warming, and the emphasis is on what an individual person can do," Ciccarello said. "This fair will expose them to vendors who can offer products or services that would make a difference."