The Rotary Club of West Nassau has embarked on a crusade of public education about the dangers of air pollutants, especially the harmful emissions that come from substandard vehicles.
The campaign is one of several target areas for the service club this year.
“The first stage of the campaign is to make the public aware,” said Phillip Lundy, member of the Community Services branch of the Rotary Club. “We would like to hope that at the end of this public education campaign that not only the Rotary Club of West Nassau but Bahamians at large will be calling for legislation to be enacted to control, for example, the emissions that come from the automobiles that we drive.”
He suggested that many of the pollutants are contributing to serious health problems, hence the need for change.
“A lot of the cars that are on our streets are banned in first world countries. Unfortunately, we are like a lot of third world countries where these cars are dumped, we drive them up and down not realizing that they are really polluting the air that we breathe,” Mr. Lundy said.
The Bahamas had an interest in the highly debated Kyoto Protocol to which many countries around the world gave input as a means of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions that negatively impact the Ozone Layer and contribute to global warming.
The accord, which aims to curb the air pollution blamed for global warming, came into force last year, seven years after it was agreed.
Back then, 141 countries, accounting for 55% of greenhouse gas emissions, have ratified the treaty, which pledges to cut these emissions by 5.2% by 2012.
Currently, the local campaign that the Rotary Club of West Nassau is spearheading is intended to raise public awareness about the issue. Getting feedback, involving corporate Bahamas and eventually taking the case to the decision-makers is envisioned in the future.
“This is a bi-partisan issue. It has nothing to do with politics; it’s a health issue. We intend to end this campaign at the doorsteps of the Minister of Health,” said Mr. Lundy. “Private citizens can make decisions about the cars that we drive once we are aware that driving a certain type of vehicle can produce a certain type of pollutant then we would be informed enough that we can make wise choices.”
Today, emissions of harmful pollutants from new cars are a small fraction of those emitted from cars made in the 1960s, according to environmental agencies. As a result, the air we breathe is on average much cleaner than it was 25 years ago.
In the U.S. by and large, automobiles are meeting emission standards that require reductions of up to 97 percent for Hydrocarbons (HC), 96 percent for Carbon Monoxide (CO), and 90 percent for Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) compared to the pre-control levels emitted.
Each vehicle spurts out a level of toxins, through evaporation, refueling loss and exhaust emissions, as bi-products of the fuel that powers it.
The rate of emission differs according to the type of vehicle. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency measures the emissions and classifies vehicles according to their emission ratings both as air pollutants and greenhouse gases. The Toyota Camry and Volkswagon Jetta have the best ratings, followed closely by the Nissan Altima and the Volvo V70.
“You don’t necessarily have to buy a more expensive car, but before you buy, one of the factors that you should consider is the amount of pollutants that the vehicle would be putting out,” Mr. Lundy said.
In fact, he said, the tourist industry is already being impacted.
“Nassau is not as clean as all of the us would like it. You walk around on Bay Street in the middle of the day when all the cruise ships are in and you would be aghast at the amount of emissions form the cars and big trucks on Bay Street and the noise put out in the tourist district,” he added.
The Rotary Club here is in contact with its sister club in the U.S. which is helping to devise a set of recommendations about how to move forward.
The government, as it outlined its aggressive legislative agenda for a new session of parliament, made a recommitment to pursuing policies to protect the pristine environment.
Legislation is intended to be introduced and enhanced to strengthen the regulatory and enforcement powers of the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology [BEST] Commission.
Senator Dr. Marcus Bethel, the former Minister of Health, is the new cabinet minister responsible for the environment.
By: Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
