Michael McIntyre, who writes the Tipoff column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, reported on Counciman Matt Zone's plan to introduce a region wide ordinance banning unnecessary engine idling.  Earth Day Coalition's Clean Transportation program has been working with Councilman Zone, a deducated team of leaders at Cleveland City Hall, NOACA's Air Quality experts, Cleveland Clean Air Century Campaign, and the Ohio Environmental Council to craft a model ordinace for the City of Cleveland.  In order to create a regional idle-reduction ordinace, this model ordinance must be adopted by all 162 municipalites in our five county region.

Link to Michael McIntyre's Tipoff Column in the Feb 9 Plain Dealer>

Councilman Matt Zone to propose law banning vehicle idling: Tipoff
by Michael K. McIntyre/Plain Dealer Reporter
Monday February 09, 2009, 6:15 AM

Gentlemen (and ladies), stop your engines.

Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone says engine exhaust is choking the environment, threatening the flow of future federal dollars to the region and thwarting economic development efforts.

Instead of sitting idly by, he plans to soon propose a law banning idling vehicles in Cleveland. And he's not just talking about big belching trucks: "All fleets, all vehicles, Joe Citizen, everybody."

If your engine is going in Cleveland, you had better be, too.

Zone says he knows it won't solve pollution problems, but it's a start. "It's not a silver bullet, it's a silver buckshot," he said. And with council members in nearly two dozen other local cities -- including Avon, Shaker Heights and Bedford -- ready to propose identical legislation, it could make a bigger bang.

The law permits idling for five minutes per hour, double in the extreme cold or heat, and has a number of exemptions for traffic jams, emergencies and other reasons.