Idling cars harmful

“Ozone pollution persists in Spokane” (July 8) is telling. Did you know idling a vehicle uses a quarter to a half gallon of gasoline per hour? You waste gas, wear your engine and pollute the air. Toxic exhaust hurts the respiratory systems of asthma sufferers, children and the elderly.

Some Spokanites are entitled to idle for 20 minutes (EPA recommends 10 seconds) while they talk and text. An air-conditioned Walmart or Safeway is too far to walk. Others leave their kids in an unsafe idling car. (Keep the windows cracked open to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning).

Parents voluntarily stop idling at several schools. Prius owners and idlers with children, the elderly and pets during heat waves are the exception. Otherwise, unnecessary idlers do the opposite of the slogan on STA’s hybrid buses: “Don’t Be Clean. Don’t Be Green. Be Mean to People’s Lungs.”

As of June 28, Spokane had two days in “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” range. August 2015 wildfires gave us seven days. Colorado Springs and Seattle have clean air. Spokane’s “Good Up High, Bad Near By” alert says “breathing bad ozone is like giving your lungs a sunburn.”

Mike Kraft

Spokane