If you are on the MOE alert list you must be aware that we are in the midst of what looks to be at least a 3 day Smog Alert period.
The alert has been extended all the way from Windsor up into northern Ontario. So unless you have the time and opportunity to travel 6-8 hours (maybe more) there is no where to go to escape the poor air quality if you are experiencing trouble breathing.
One alternative is to put on your air conditioner or buy a very expensive home filtration unit. We doubt that many low income seniors or those living at or below the poverty line or on welfare can afford either of these partial solutions to alleviate their respiratory problems.
Even if you can afford AC it requires energy and the production of the electricity itself contributes pollution.
Take for example the coal burning Nanticoke Generating Station. It is estimated to generate as much pollution as 3.3 million cars a year and is the single largest generator of smog producing pollution in Ontario. Frankly we are appalled that at the April 16, 2007 Council Meeting Councillors Billings, Farrelly, Laidlaw and Wettstein did not support the phase out of Nanticoke by 2009. Perhaps these councillors would have voted differently if they were required to send a letter of sympathy to the families of the estimated 490 people a year who will die as result of the pollution generated by Nanticoke.
Another contributing factor to smog is the hundreds (more likely 1000’s) of drivers in Guelph who use the restaurant drive thrus on bad air days and every day to get their coffee or food.
Perhaps the first thing the person at the order window should ask is “would you like some oxygen with your fries?” or how about : ” you’ve been idling for 10 minutes in the drive thru line can I supersize your intake of greenhouse gases?”
We have an anti idling buy-law does the city send out its by-law officers to enforce the anti-idling by law on smog alert days or any day?
Has the city approached the restaurants with a drive through to ask for a voluntary shut down on smog days? Has there been any dialogue between the City and the Chamber of Commerce on how the city can partner with business to voluntarily shut down non necessary equipment on smog alert days?
The Clean Air Partnership believes that “We would need to plant 30 million trees to absorb the air pollution resulting from GTA drivers idling 5 minutes a day for one year. ”
According to the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), air pollution is “a public health crisis” in Ontario. The OMA says that air pollution kills over 5,900 people per year in Ontario and costs our economy over $7.8 billion per year in health care costs, lost work time and other quantifiable expenses.
As taxpayers we fund the economic costs of pollution through our taxes and rising health insurance rates.
In our last letter to Council re smog on May 9, 2007 we indicated that ” you may want to give some thought to the thousands of children with asthma and adults with respiratory conditions who will have difficulty breathing during the night and every night when there is a smog problem”.
The time to take action is now. There is still a long, hot, smoggy summer ahead of us.
(all references with statistics are from the Clean Alliance Web page see this link http://www.cleanair.web.net/resource/nanticoke06.pdf
some links you may want to look at.
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=532689&catname=Local+News May 17, 2007 cities ( Guelph is mentioned) not proactively enforcing their anit idling by-laws
quote from this web link: http://www.cleanairpartnership.org/idle/
http://www.cleanairpartnership.org/gtacac/pdf/model_idling_program_05.pdf
http://www.cleanairpartnership.org/gtacac/pdf/reducing_vehicle_idling_main.pdf
DM & LM