Aspen’s environmental health department wants drivers to cut unnecessary emissions.
On a recent morning, Jannette Whitcomb and Laura Armstrong were on the lookout for the tell-tale signs of an idling car: a rumbling engine, exhaust and a driver usually staring down at a smartphone. When Whitcomb spotted a truck running outside of Vectra Bank, she walked right up to the window.
“Hi, are you aware the city has a vehicle idling ordinance?” she asked. The driver was not, but he cut the engine and Whitcomb walked away.
The law states that drivers can leave the car running for no more than five minutes; offenders face a $100 fine. This month, Whitcomb and the environmental health department are walking the streets of Aspen on chilly mornings, trying to spread the word.
“When you have an idling vehicle, it’s polluting the air that you breathe,” Whitcomb said.
In the winter, that pollution can be even more potent. The valley where Aspen sits sees a lot of temperature inversions, where warmer air rises into the mountains. This can trap pollution.
“We’re more susceptible to pollutants in the wintertime because of those inversions,” Whitcomb said.
So the environmental health department has dubbed February “Idling Awareness Month.”
City officials are also handing out coupons for free cookies from Paradise Bakery for anyone spotted in a car not idling during their patrols and offering free windshield covers to people tempted to run the car to defrost on icy mornings.
City officials monitor air quality regularly, and that monitoring typically shows clean air.
