Upper Green Side Joins Clean Air NY as Community Partner

According to a new air quality study, the Upper East Side (UES) is home to some of the most polluted air in New York City. New York City’s Department of Health’s first Community Air Survey (pdf) used highly technical sensors to monitor the level of five types of air pollutants - fine particles, nitrogen oxides, elemental carbon, sulfur dioxide and ozone. These have been linked to a variety of health problems, such as asthma, in more than 150 locations throughout the five boroughs. Download the full report here (pdf).

While many people may be shocked to hear that the UES air is, in fact, so polluted, the news should sadly come as no surprise. The neighborhood has long been home to a high concentration of older buildings, many of which still house old boilers and furnaces that burn a heavy grade of heating oil. In addition, heavy traffic from two nearby bridges and streets full of taxis, cars and trucks do more than their fair share to contribute particulate matter and other toxins to the district’s poor air quality.

Upper Green Side is proud to be Clean Air NY’s newest Community Partner. We will be working with other local community groups and stakeholders to help raise awareness about the need to clean our polluted air. Together, we can clean our air and provide a cleaner and safer environment for all!

Guest Blogger: Michael Auerbach, President of Upper Green Side

Kids Should Learn About Clean Air, Too – They’re the Drivers of the Future!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/07/livable-streets-education-anti-idling-rap-new-york-city-video.php?dcitc=th_rss

A few days ago, I came across this video. A Park Slope, Brooklyn, middle school documented what the students learned from a unit their teacher did on transportation and air pollution. I shared it with my Clean Air NY colleagues and we can’t get enough of it!

Here are the top five reasons this is a great video, and a great project:

5) The kids were able to express what they learned creatively. Some sang, some danced and others drew. By combining what they learned with their interests, they made the project more interesting and more memorable.

4) They worked to spread the word. Beyond producing this video and simply keeping it, they were able to get it onto a popular blog, Treehugger. This teaches them at an early age that when you have an important message, you need to spread the word!

3) The climate change journal is a great idea. Requiring the kids to monitor the air quality each day allows them to really notice when the air quality is poor. They’ll most likely to continue noting the quality of the air each day, simply by habit. You can stay current on air quality with our widget, located on our Web site.

2) This project was very hands-on. Instead of being told that idling releases carbon pollution into the air, they measured the pollution. Instead of being told that typical vehicle occupancy is one person, they did a survey and found out for themselves.

1) Kids don’t learn enough about the negative effect vehicles can have on air quality. Because they can’t drive yet, we assume that we don’t need to teach them. I think if people are taught clean-air actions early, they are more likely to incorporate them into their daily lives. It’s a lot easier to start off with good habits than it is to change bad ones. These students are likely to remember what they have learned from this video project once they begin driving. They know now to carpool when possible, to stop idling, etc. Hopefully, these actions will be incorporated automatically into their driving habits.

All you teachers and parents – take a lesson from this lesson. Make sure your kids know about transportation and air pollution. They are, after all, the drivers of the future.

Amanda Moss, Clean Air NY Outreach Coordinator.

Your Clean Air Actions Can Help Increase the IQ of New York Children…

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/20/health/main5173842.shtml

Today, an interesting – and disheartening – study was released by the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. The study followed 249 pregnant New York City women and tracked the quality of the air they would breathe each day through a backpack air quality monitor. Five years later, their children were given an IQ test. The study showed that the children of mothers who were exposed to a higher level of air pollution scored significantly lower than those whose mothers were exposed to less air pollution.

Don’t worry – according to Dr. Michael Msall, a pediatrician with the University of Chicago, the study doesn’t mean that children exposed to air pollution "aren't going to learn to read and write and spell."

However, while the study may not mean that poor air quality = low IQ, it does show that it is most likely an influence of some kind.

The study points to vehicle exhaust as the primary source of the air pollution that the pregnant mothers were exposed to. This just reiterates the importance of our simple, everyday clean air actions.

It seems that we can add pregnant mothers to the list of groups that are most at-risk to the negative effects of poor air quality (already on the list: children, teens, senior citizens, people with pre-existing cardiovascular or respiratory issues, diabetes, or other chronic health problems). These groups should be most careful on Air Quality Action Days, and try and stay indoors whenever possible.

What else can we do? Next time you go to a fast food restaurant, go inside instead of idling your car in the drive-thru window. Take the train instead of driving. Carpool with a friend whenever you can – you’ll get to use the HOV lane and you’ll cut back on vehicle exhaust emissions.

These actions – as we now know – can help all New Yorkers – even the ones who haven’t been born yet!

Amanda Moss, Clean Air NY Marketing and Outreach Coordinator.

Get Some Relief from the Heat of High Gas Prices and Clean Our Air of Excess Pollutants: Dive into Carpooling!

Finally, summer has embraced New York's metro area! It's time for family picnics in parks, outdoor parties, relaxing in hammocks, sports and other exercise outdoors. During the warm summer days, we feel good to be outside and filling our lungs with some fresh air. However, New York's air needs to be healthier.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New York's downstate region does not meet federal standards for air quality. As indicated by EPA tests, the air has harmful pollutants, a risk not only to sensitive groups, such as people with asthma or emphysema, but to those without health problems. Studies have also shown that pollutants can aggravate symptoms in people with pre-existing conditions, such as heart disease or high blood pressure.

The increasing numbers of people with respiratory problems signal that something is stirring in our air, even if some people do not think there are harmful effects.

Our cars are major contributors to air pollution. Most people believe that a single car is not going to make a difference, so they choose to drive by themselves. But each car that is on the road is releasing pollutants, and too many cars equal air pollution. How do we solve this problem? By jumping into something that some New Yorkers may be wary of - carpooling.

If more of us carpooled to work or to our summer activities, we'd experience some great benefits - fuel bills would be cut; there would be less wear and tear on our cars; there would be fewer cars on the road and, thus, less traffic; passengers would catch up on reading, e-mails or shut-eye; and our air would be healthier.

Some might think the idea of carpooling and not being in control of our own transit would feel like a nuisance. We might fear being at work, far from home and needing to get back home in case of an emergency and having no transportation. That is why your local transportation management association (TMA) offers a guaranteed ride home program that allows employees paid rides in the event that their transportation from work is unavailable. For more information, visit your appropriate TMA's Web site:

• MetroPool for commuters traveling within the Lower Hudson River Valley.
• CommuterLink for commuters traveling in and to New York City.
  
• Long Island Transportation Management (LITM) for commuters traveling in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island.
  

These organizations also help commuters enter the carpooling system, linking people who want to carpool with others in their area. To find a carpool partner or vanpool in your area, visit www.511ny.org.

When comparing carpooling to driving alone, carpooling is the more environmentally friendly option. High-occupancy vehicle lanes on some major highways allow passenger cars with at least two people to travel amid less congestion. Some people may love the comfort of their own cars for various reasons, but try stepping away from your comfort zone and carpool for the greater good.

Take some relief from the heat of high gas prices and clean up the air that we breathe - it's time to dive into carpooling!

Guest blog by Jessica Wade, Clean Air NY/MetroPool summer intern.

Why All Drivers Should Avoid Idling...

Clean Air NY encourages alternatives to driving, promoting healthier air through biking, mass transit and reduced vehicle use. But — sometimes — even the best of us give in to the convenience of a car. When driving, alone or (we hope!) in a carpool or vanpool, you can lower your vehicle’s impact. One easy way is to reduce idling.

We idle anytime we leave the engine running while the car isn’t in use. Many New Yorkers idle based on misinformation regarding fuel consumption and engine wear. We’ve heard that stopping and restarting our car wastes more gas, harms the engine and prevents the car from warming up properly.

But these false assumptions often skim over the negative effects of idling. Our vehicles, our air and our wallets feel the costs on a regular basis:
- In addition to soot and smog-forming particles, idling vehicles produce about 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.
- Fuel cannot combust completely in idling vehicles, so idling engines experience increased corrosion along with general wear-and-tear.
- An idling car or truck can waste between $62 and $529 of gas each year (based on current prices).

Most idling myths don’t hold up with today’s vehicles. Allowing your car to idle for more than 10 seconds actually wastes more fuel than restarting the engine. Idling in cold weather is unnecessary: Cars actually warm up more thoroughly when driven slowly and carefully for the first few minutes. Additional engine use and increased fuel consumption far outweigh the costs of wear-and-tear from restarts.

The good news: Reducing idling is simple and translates to real environmental, health and financial benefits for drivers. Most of us idle without a second thought—in the drive-through lane, at railroad crossings or while waiting to pick up a passenger. By cutting off such habits, you can save gas and improve New York’s air quality.

So stop and think next time you’ll be stopped for a bit. Shut off the engine. Step outside and breathe in the healthier air that you’re helping create.

Interested in learning more?
Idle-Free NYC: http://www.idle-free.info/
Environmental Defense Fund: “Idling Gets You Nowhere” http://www.edf.org/documents/9236_Idling_Nowhere_2009.pdf

For more information on other things you can do to improve NY’s air quality, please visit: http://www.cleanairny.org/DoYourPart/WhatCanIDo.aspx.

Guest Blogger: Sarah Tansey, Clean Air NY/CommuterLink summer intern.

Commit to Cleaner Air Week, Day 2 - Subway Ride & Clean Air NY Champion NY Methodist Hospital Event

Day 2 of Commit to Cleaner Air Week -- the Clean Air NY Cloud (who still needs a name - e-mail ideas to info@cleanairny.org) rode the "B" subway from 86th Street and Central Park West downtown and transferred at Rockefeller Center to the "F" train to Park Slope, Brooklyn! A great example of how easy mass transit is!

The Clean Air NY Street Team continued to celebrate Commit to Cleaner Air Week with Clean Air NY Champion New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn! At the hospital Clean Air NY gave out blue colored cotton candy to employees and visitors in honor of Commit to Clean Air Week which was a hit. The Clean Air NY Cloud also visited the children's out patient waiting room where we gave the children coloring books about improving New York’s air quality.

Clean Air NY successfully got almost 100 Methodist employees and visitors to commit to cleaner air!

You should commit to cleaner air too! To learn more about Commit to Cleaner Air Week visit http://www.cleanairny.org/commit.

Jessica S. Horne, Marketing and Outreach Associate of Clean Air NY.

Understand the State of Air in New York, American Lung Association’s State of the Air Report Cites New York’s Poor Air Quality

(An interactive map, showing air quality data by county, finds 22 out of the 33 counties with air-quality monitors received failing grades).

On April 28, the American Lung Association released its 10th annual State of the Air report. According to the report, more than 12.5 million New Yorkers - a stunning 65 percent of the state’s residents - live in counties where air pollution levels endanger lives.

Applying new, stricter federal standards, the report found that New Yorkers are breathing in dangerously high levels of both particulate matter and ozone. And this is particularly troublesome for the 1.6 million New Yorkers who suffer from asthma, as ozone and particle pollution are to blame for many of these respiratory conditions. American Lung Association’s State of the Air Report Cites New York’s Poor Air Quality.

New York City ranks 17th on the top-25 list of most polluted U.S. cities by ozone; 16th on the top-25 list of cities most polluted by short-term particle pollution; and 22nd on the top-25 list of cities most polluted by year-round particle pollution.

Breathing in high levels of ozone could injure your lungs like sunburn and could lead to coughing and asthma attacks; in severe cases, high levels of ozone could send people to the emergency room or even lead to premature death.

Particle pollution, on the other hand, involves microscopic solids – such as tiny bits of dust or soot. These microscopic particles are 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair and can penetrate the body’s natural defense systems. When inhaled, these tiny particles get trapped in the lungs’ deepest parts. The effect of particle pollution is like rubbing sandpaper on the lungs’ tissue. Research proves that people with chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, are at an increased risk of death when particle pollution is high.

Please spread the word to your friends and family on how everyone can help make New York’s air healthier by making simple changes to transportation habits. The American Lung Association in New York works closely with Clean Air NY to educate the public on how to improve air quality in the metro New York area. To learn more, visit http://www.cleanairny.org.

We know that air quality is not going to improve on its own, so the American Lung Association in New York, along with Clean Air NY, will continue fighting for air. Hopefully, all of New York will someday receive an A for air quality.

Guest blogger: Michael Seilback, Vice President, Public Policy & Communications, American Lung Association in New York.

Choosing Travel Options Friendly to Air Quality All the Time

Choosing travel options that are friendly to air quality is about more than our commute to and from work. It includes trips to concerts, Broadway shows, dinners, nightclubs, Yankees or Mets games and other special events.

Speaking of baseball, we recently went to a game at the new Yankee Stadium. A friend asked me where I parked and wasn't it a nightmare? In fact, we took a relaxing train ride and connected with an express subway to the Bronx. It dropped us off right outside the ball park.

All in all, we reduced our driving travel for the evening by more than 70 miles, eliminated the stress of Friday-night-game traffic, avoided the parking hassle and helped improve air quality, all with one simple travel choice.

Frank T. Mongioi is Marketing and Outreach Manager of Clean Air NY.

What is the Relationship Between Climate, Weather, Air Quality and Health?

Monday, March 23rd was World Meteorological Day, and the theme was the relationship between climate, weather, air quality and health. In response, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization put out a warning that about two million people die prematurely every year due to air pollution. The World Meteorological Organization’s Secretary-General says "For the air quality, what we are talking about is not only the sort of traditional pollutants as you could imagine them," he noted. "But, it is also many of the gases, which are the greenhouse gases that are also influencing the quality of the air when they are abundant in the lower atmosphere." To read more, please visit: http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-23-voa19.cfm.

Clean Air NY is an initiative sponsored by the NY State Department of Transportation in support of regionwide air quality efforts. Clean Air NY’s network of individuals and businesses believes that every person has the power to help make New York’s air healthier and protect our community from the effects of climate change. In an effort to reduce vehicle miles traveled, Clean Air NY educates the public on simple changes to everyday travel choices and provides real-time updates on Air Quality Action Days via text messaging, e-mail and media notifications. To learn more, visit CleanAirNY.org.

Ozone Pollution Amplifies Risk of Fatal Respiratory Illnesses

A study was recently released by the New England Journal of Medicine showing the deadly effects of long-term exposure to ozone pollution. The study followed almost 450,000 Americans in 96 metropolitan areas and results showed that exposure to ozone pollution increases deaths from respiratory diseases.

In the USA Today Article below, Ms. Janice Nolen, Assistant Vice President of National Policy and Advocacy for the American Lung Association, was quoted as saying “the study shows yet another way that air pollution can harm public health.”

This further strengthens the importance of public service initiatives such as Clean Air NY. Sponsored by the New York State Department of Transportation, Clean Air NY is a network of individuals, employers, employees, and community organizations in the New York metro area committed to the idea that every person can take part in making our air cleaner and healthier.

Some of the actions that Clean Air NY is taking include:

* Sending real-time Air Quality Action Day updates via text messages and e-mail notifications on days when air quality is forecasted to be in the unhealthy range.

* Working with employers, community groups, universities, and the general public to promote alternative travel behaviors such as taking mass transit, trip chaining, carpooling, bicycling and walking, especially on Air Quality Action Days.

* Partnering with local transportation management associations and organizations to help New Yorkers find alternative, "greener" transportation options - including a free carpool matching service

For a copy of the full USA Today article, check out:

Ozone Pollution Amplifies Risk of Fatal Respiratory Illnesses
By Liz Szabo, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-03-11-ozone-illness_N.htm

For a copy of the New England Journal of Medicine abstract, check out:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/360/11/1085

Helping Our Loved Ones by Reducing Air Pollution

Air quality in the New York area really hits home for me. I’ve lived here my entire life. I had my first bout with asthma when I was 12 years old. Now I have a son who is 5 years old. He had his first bout with asthma when he was 2. My daughter just turned 2 years old, and I’m really worried about her. As you can see, I’m a concerned parent.

This past summer, I was in Atlanta and heard a fascinating story about the health effects of air quality. In 1996, in preparation for the Summer Olympics, Atlanta planners banned single-occupancy vehicles (cars traveling with just a driver and no passengers) from traveling on the roads around the Olympic village. Only people taking transit, carpooling, biking or walking were allowed into the area. As a result, during the weeks of the Olympic games pediatric asthma-related hospital admissions dropped by more than 40 percent. Fewer cars likely led to healthier children.

If we all make small changes to our daily travel routines, it could make a big difference in our air quality and the air that our loved ones breathe. Instead of driving alone, we encourage you to carpool, ride a bike, take the train or a bus and combine your daily errands. Every little bit helps.

Frank Mongioi is the Clean Air NY Marketing and Outreach Manager.