Environmental Progress - Spring 2002

Environmental Progress : Spring 2002

"Clean Air Pledge" May Mean Hybrid Honda, Other Prizes

Low emission vehicle, high efficiency appliances are top prizes

A "super ultra low emissions" electric hybrid Honda Insight vehicle and ENERGY STAR "high-efficiency" appliances from Sears, Roebuck and Co. are the top prizes for citizens in the Chicago Metro area who "take the Clean Air pledge" and participate in the "Green Pays on Green Days" program this summer.

Illinois EPA Director Renee Cipriano, assisted by "environmental superhero" Breathe Easy Man and Chicago NBC5 weathercaster Tammie Sousa, unveiled the program during a breakfast meeting of the Partners for Clean Air coalition in late April.

Illinois EPA and Partners for Clean Air, a coalition of more than 300 companies, nonprofit organizations and government agencies that promotes actions to reduce pollution when weather is conducive to high smog levels, is sponsoring Green Pays on Green Days.

"This program encourages continued strong citizen participation in actions that contribute to cleaner air and has resulted in historic progress by the Chicago area towards achieving clean air standards," Governor George H. Ryan said.

"We expect Green Pays on Green Days will be a fun and educational program that will be easy to enter either on-line or through mail-in entry forms," said Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Renee Cipriano. Residents of Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will, Grundy, McHenry and Kendall counties in Illinois may enter the drawings by pledging "green actions" such as carpooling or taking public transit, refueling after dark, deferring gas-powered lawn mowing, and conserving energy.

The prizes are being provided through contributions from Illinois businesses and organizations. Major supporters include Sears, BP, 3M, ADM, Corn Products, Envirotest Illinois, Exxon Mobil, Midwest Generation, The Clean Energy Community Foundation and Abbott Laboratories.

Monthly, daily prizes will also be awarded

From May 27 through Sept. 2, drawings for daily prize packages will be held on days when "green" or "good" air quality has been forecast. There will also be monthly drawings for June, July and August, and the grand prize drawing after Sept. 2.

The pledge/entry forms, good for daily, monthly and the grand prize, can be submitted online at the NBC5.com web site or through mail-in forms on the weather page of the Friday Chicago Sun-Times or on Green Pays on Green Days posters.

The grand prize, a 2002 Honda Insight, donated by Grand Honda of Elmhurst, is an electric hybrid car that gets 57 miles per gallon. It has been recognized as the "greenest vehicle" by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, as well earning an Excellence in Environ-mental Engineering Award from the Sierra Club.

Monthly prizes, made possible in cooperation with Sears, are high-efficiency appliances. They include a Kenmore refrigerator, washer, dryer, and dishwasher, a Panasonic 36-inch TV, home theater system, and CD system.

Daily prize packages include items as an ENERGY STAR TV/VCR combo, a programmable thermostat, a mass transit check, and many other environmentally-friendly products.

State will seek redesignation of Chicago air quality

Director Cipriano noted that IEPA will soon be asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to formally redesignate the Chicago area as being "in attainment" for meeting the one-hour federal health standard for ozone. Measurements at more than 20 air monitoring stations in the region for the past three years demonstrate the attainment requirement has been met.

The Chicago area would be the first in the nation to go from a "severe nonattainment" designation given under the 1990 federal Clean Air Act amendments, to attainment designation. It would also be the largest metro area in the nation to achieve attainment six years ahead of the federal deadline.