Whether expressed in terms of billions of dollars in financial bailout money or tons of pollution created by commuter traffic, our nation’s young people stand out as the group whose future is most affected by our actions today. The faltering economy and the growing consensus toward environmental sustainability present an incredible opportunity: each of us is empowered not only to learn from the past, but also to teach future generations about what we can improve on … and how.

The opportunity to teach youths about protecting the air we breathe is taking shape each day across Georgia in more than 80 elementary, middle and high schools that participate in the Clean Air Schools program. Through this expanded program that launched at the start of the 2008-2009 school year, The Clean Air Campaign has equipped more than 200,000 students, parents, teachers, staff, bus drivers and administrators with the tools they need to:

• reduce unnecessary engine idling in the carpool and bus lane
• teach air quality lessons with plans approved by the Georgia Department of Education
• promote school bus ridership
• encourage students who live within a mile of their school to try walking

The exciting part about these programs is that they are so easy to put into practice and get young people thinking differently about their role in protecting the environment. That’s why Earth Day Network, in partnership with The Clean Air Campaign and The UPS Foundation, this week helped make the Clean Air Schools No-Idling program and lesson plans available to schools across the nation.

Teaching young people about the impact an idling engine can have on fuel savings, vehicle emissions and air quality expands their thinking to sustainability, conservation and thrift. It’s a certainty that with each new generation, these issues will take on increasing importance.

How do you introduce topics like these to your children/students? What are some of the ways you’re leading by example in your household/classroom? Post a response and let others read about your great ideas.

As Georgia's economy continues to scrape along, the question employers and employees are beginning to ask more frequently is, "Where else can I cut back?"

There are lots of signals being sent that indicate how individuals are prioritizing their finances while waiting for the financial landscape to thaw. But what are many of us unwilling to sacrifice?

A recent survey puts home Internet access and cell phone service at the top of a list of consumer "untouchables" that would not be slashed from a household budget. Four out of five consumers rank Internet as indispensable and two out of three consumers placed cell phone service off limits from being cut. From there, the list of perceived "must-haves" gets more subjective.

This, of course, leads straight to the question The Clean Air Campaign would ask: Where does commuting rank among the expenses you're willing to keep paying at the level you currently pay? If you're driving alone to and from work each day -- like 84% of metro Atlanta commuters do -- do you regard the commute costs that come with driving alone as an "untouchable" line item in your household budget?

The positive effect of this sour economy is that, when the smoke does clear, we will have an opportunity -- as consumers, capitalists and perhaps commuters -- to improve upon the choices of the past.

We’re still a few months away from the start of Smog Season in Georgia, the period from May through September when ground-level ozone is most likely to form. But there’s another lingering air pollution issue that affects our health year-round. Concentrations of fine particulate matter, known more broadly as “particle pollution,” are present in the air we breathe.

If you’ve ever been within sight of a smokestack or a tailpipe, you’ve no doubt seen that black plume of smoke spring forth and then dissipate. The process of combustion (burning something, whether it be gasoline, wood, coal, etc) produces small airborne fragments of dust, soot and chemicals – so small that they are invisible to the naked eye. Particle pollution can also occur in nature: think pollen in the springtime.

Fine particulate matter is so miniscule, it’s a mere fraction of the diameter of a human hair. At 2.5 micrometers in diameter, this visual (courtesy of the US Environmental Protection Agency) puts into perspective just how small particle pollution can be:

When these pollutants are present in high concentrations, what can they do to your health? For one, particle pollution can penetrate deep into your lungs, slipping past the body’s defenses and making it hard to breathe. This can trigger asthma attacks or even create situations where emergency medical attention is needed. Particle pollution can also irritate the eyes, nose and throat.

There are ways to curb particle pollution emissions. Coal-fired power plants are adding “scrubbers” at facilities to act as giant pipe cleaners that can reduce overall particle pollution output. Certain counties enact open burning bans that prohibit citizens from burning yard waste. Catalytic converters on buses, trucks, cars and vans help reduce output. And of course driving less helps, too.

But the big-picture challenge is to reduce energy consumption in a state that is among the nation’s fastest growing. How do we motivate people to change their habits when we’re talking about a problem that is invisible to the naked eye?

It was decades ago that Atlanta earned its nickname as "The City Too Busy to Hate." Today, metro Atlanta has seized the mantle as the largest employment center in the southeast. If a region's success is defined by the horsepower of its economic engine, then certainly metro Atlanta is a HEMI. But as employees in search of work-life balance, can we truly say that quality of life for the region is firing on all cylinders when traffic congestion takes away so much of our time?

For many commuters, dealing with traffic delay has become another problem that we simply grow to tolerate. But how many of us have ever paused to really contemplate just how much time we're spending each day in gridlock? A regional survey found that the average roundtrip commute in metro Atlanta is 72 minutes each day -- more than one hour each day spent just getting to and from our place of employment.

This means over the course of a year (240 workdays), the average metro Atlanta commuter is forfeiting about 12 days (17,280 hours) worth of free time in order to slog through traffic. Does this finding surprise you? More importantly, does it make you want to change the situation?

Outside of listening to books on tape, it's hard to be productive (and safe) when you're behind the wheel. If you want to reclaim some of the time you're losing on your daily commute, the best decision is to let someone else do the driving. Read something from the passenger seat of a carpool. One group of carpoolers started a book club on wheels. Get work done while riding on the train. Or eliminate your commute time altogether and work from home when practical.

As much as we want to pretend otherwise, there are only 24 hours in the day. What would it mean to have some of that time back? An IBM commuter study conducted in 2008 found that 47.4% of Atlanta respondents indicated if their commute were significantly reduced, they would spend more time with friends and family – highest of all cities surveyed.

So, if you could free up some extra time by getting out of traffic, how would you use it? Where does time rank in terms of your pursuit of work-life balance? Chime in and share your thoughts.

We all have our workday morning rituals: rise and shine, get cleaned up and dressed, fire up the coffee maker, etc. But there’s a habit many of us get into in the colder months that is completely unnecessary. Idling your vehicle’s engine to “warm it up” for several minutes before you drive can actually diminish the engine’s performance, release pollution into the air and waste fuel.

Most of us grew up believing that idling a vehicle in cold conditions is good for the engine, but the truth is that it can wear down engine components, which are built to work more efficiently and produce fewer emissions in today’s cars than in the cars manufactured decades ago. The best way to warm up an engine today is to put it in drive and go.

Unnecessarily engine idling hurts air quality. The US Environmental Protection Agency advises that each minute of unnecessary vehicle engine idling can emit Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and other pollutants into the air, to the tune of nearly 10 grams a minute in typical personal vehicles during cold weather.

In various consumer publications, the EPA has also advised that you’ll save fuel by turning the engine off and restarting it again if you expect to idle for more than 30 seconds. Something to think about next time you’re sitting at a red light or waiting in line at the drive-thru.

The Clean Air Campaign is enjoying success in getting carpool parents to shut off their engines while waiting for children at a Clean Air School. In almost every case, the decision to not idle becomes a reflex reaction when drivers learn that exhaust emissions can harm children (who breathe, on average, 50 percent more air per pound of body weight than adults).

Even employers with diesel engine fleet vehicles are getting in on the act, encouraging drivers to shut off their engines while waiting at the loading dock. For businesses, it’s the transportation equivalent of turning off the lights when the building is empty.

Reducing unnecessary vehicle engine idling can truly be no-brainer … when commuters have the presence of mind to remember to do it.

With the holidays now in the rear-view mirror, this is the time of year when many of us feel the weight of our financial choices. The bills start showing up from holiday expenses and we vow to spend less. In this tight economy, it’s all about stretching our dollars further, right? So, where can we flex our thrifty muscles and make the most impact? How about the daily commute?

How much does it cost the average commuter to drive to and from work each day? Cha-ching! The answer is 54 cents a mile, according to the American Automobile Association and their annual study, Your Driving Costs. That’s based on driving 15,000 miles a year. Now, take that 54 cents and multiply by 40 miles (the average daily roundtrip commute in metro Atlanta): you’re on the hook for nearly $22 each day you commute alone by car. More staggering than the cost of your daily café latte, huh? Factored into that figure are:

• fuel
• maintenance costs
• tires
• depreciation
• car loan expenses
• insurance
• license and registration expenses

Most of us would shrug our shoulders and say there’s nothing we can do about it: we need wheels to get around. But it’s not about giving up your car outright. It’s about using it less. Fewer miles on your car means savings in all the areas mentioned above with the likely exception of your car note and license/registration. But if you keep it in the driveway more often, you can reduce your insurance premiums and save on gas and maintenance.

For more Georgia commuters, carpooling, riding transit, teleworking or even bicycling could become the next great financial savings strategy during this recession. Take our commute calculator for a spin and see how much you could save over the course of this year by regularly using alternatives to driving alone. If you could save $500 or even $1,000, would you try it? If you could also earn $3 a day from The Clean Air Campaign, up to $100, would that be worth it? Think differently about how you can get ahead financially – and get out of traffic – this year.

This is an ideal time to reflect on the past year and look ahead with anticipation to the future. We know what stories made headlines in 2008 as they relate to The Clean Air Campaign's mission. Here are a few themes that defined 2008 as they relate to you:

Personal Finance
$4 a gallon gas stormed onto the scene and made it financially painful to drive. None of us knew if the price would ever come back down, so many of us started to use alternatives like carpooling, riding transit, teleworking, vanpooling, even bicycling to work. The Clean Air Campaign had a breakthrough year as a result, with enrollment in our incentive programs up three times over the levels achieved in 2007.

This unprecedented demand for access to our financial incentives is a reflection of the economic challenges more commuters and employers are facing as we all come to grips with the recession. It's also the reason The Clean Air Campaign and its partner organizations have made a business decision to change the maximum payout of our $3 a day incentive that rewards solo drivers who make the switch to an alternative commute. Effective January 1, 2009 the cap for this incentive will change from $180 to $100 so that more commuters can take advantage of this popular program, which is now entering its eighth year.

Public Health
Despite tougher air quality standards, metro Atlanta experienced fewer smog days than in 2007. In all, there were 29 days when conditions either reached unhealthy levels for sensitive groups (Code Orange, 25 days)) or unhealthy levels for all (Code Red, 4 days). But if the region were still under the old standard for measurement -- as we were in 2007 -- it is likely that we would have only observed 15 smog days.

Are the actions of Georgia commuters moving the needle on air quality? Too early to tell. Although the region has been coping with a prolonged drought, the late summer brought unusually cooler temperatures and conditions that were less conducive to allow ground-level ozone to form. But the impact of gas prices meant fewer cars on the road -- and fewer tailpipes contributing to poor air quality.

Quality of Life
A study of traffic in major metro areas ranked Atlanta's as the second most painful commute, behind only Los Angeles. Not a designation to boast about, but it's easy to see why traffic is such a grind here: the average roundtrip daily commute in metro Atlanta takes 72 minutes to complete. We're giving up meaningful time we could be spending with loved ones, pursuing hobbies, advancing our interests.
One finding from this study reveals 40% of Atlanta respondents indicated they had intentionally skipped a car trip because of expected traffic. Does that sound like you?

"Father Time" is performing a somewhat symbolic gesture this New Year's Eve before the clock ticks down on 2008. One second will be added to 2008 in order to rebalance a small discrepancy with the atomic clock kept by the scientific community. We get one extra second to enjoy life. How will you spend it? Here's hoping you don't have to spend it behind the wheel stuck in traffic.

In the spirit of the season, we decided to pay homage to one of the most well-known holiday poems, “The Night Before Christmas.” Putting a special twist on the classic rhyme, we call this version “The Commute Before Christmas.”

‘Twas the nighttime commute and all through the town,
The holiday traffic had everyone down.
No commuters in cars were moving at all,
They just sat still behind the miles-long traffic wall.

Horns were all honking, there was no spreading cheer,
As everyone shouted, “Let’s get outta here!”
“I wished I had carpooled,” lamented a driver,
“I know that decision would have been much wiser.”

Forget all this waiting and sitting alone,
We could be teleworking from the comfort of home.
“I think I’ll try it,” one driver said,
And enjoy a short commute from the desk to the bed.

Watching the MARTA train breeze quickly past,
The drivers all wished that they could move that fast.
We’ll never get anywhere with all these cars on the road,
We’ve got to do something to ease up the load.

Then a bright idea popped into their heads:
Let’s all try taking a clean commute instead!
I hear you save money and clean up the air,
Sounds like a great way to show the planet we care.

“We all discovered,” the drivers shouted with glee
“That clean commuting is best for the holidays you see!”
You beat all the traffic and save lots of time,
You don’t get frustrated while waiting in line.

We save lots of gas and earn extra cash too,
With Cash for Commuters they’ll pay you, it’s true!
Carpool, take transit – earn $3 a day
The savings add up and can go a long way.

What are you waiting for, give it a try,
You’ll smile as you kiss all the traffic goodbye.
If Santa could try it you know what he’d say,
“I love clean commuting, it’s the best way!”

From all of us at The Clean Air Campaign, we wish you and your family a happy (and traffic-free) holiday season.

The holidays are a time of reflection for many people. So, speaking in terms of commuting and sustainability, what stands out to you about 2008? And what, if anything, are you going to do differently next year? Weigh in on this blog and take our latest web poll. We'd love to hear your thoughts.

With the nation’s economy experiencing so many interrelated failures, investors in the stock market have experienced the equivalent of a financial root canal. After feeling that huge jolt of pain, people are devoting their attention to two things:

1. Making the best use of the resources they have
2. Finding a safe place to get a good return on their investment

It’s no different for policymakers in Georgia, as they come to grips with the challenge of fixing what is regarded as the nation’s second-worst traffic on a shoestring budget.

Enter the state’s transportation task force and the “Investing in Tomorrow’s Transportation Today” (IT3) initiative. IT3 is the state’s vision for better mobility in the future. But the realities of the statewide funding shortfall today dictate how far the plan can go. That’s why the focus of IT3 is unquestionably on getting the biggest bang for the buck.

A report issued in late-November provided a glimpse into the “return on investment” of different activities. What was found to move the needle the most on improving mobility? Getting cars off the roads and rethinking the daily commute.

Spending $220 million on demand management initiatives like telework, flexible work arrangements and other programs that make an immediate impact on reducing traffic is projected to yield $40 billion in reduced congestion costs over the next 30 years.

By comparison, spending $26 billion (that’s billion with a “b”) on new infrastructure is projected to yield the same $40 billion result.

Certainly the state needs to invest heavily in new transportation options as the population continues to surge. But the reality is that we cannot afford to wait years for new projects to come online. While the state sorts through funding options for transportation, the IT3 task force’s findings confirm that we must concentrate on making the best use of the resources we have.

So, where do you think the smart money is? More commuter rail? Expanded telework options for employees? More carpooling incentives? Post your ideas and be part of the conversation.

Do you ever sit at work and listen to a co-worker sneeze, cough and sniffle his or her way through the day? Do you ever want to tap that person on the shoulder and say, “go home before you make us all sick!”?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that every year in the U.S., five to 20 percent of the population gets the flu. So how do you keep your business running with the cold and flu season in full swing?

An easy answer to keeping germs out of the workplace is a telework program. For all of those employees who think the world will end if they don’t show up; for all the loyal workers who don’t want to use a sick day; for employers who don’t want to allow one sick employee to infect the whole office, I have three friendly – and obvious – words of advice: Work. From. Home.

Stuart Brown, M.D., former director of the Georgia Division of Public Health, said that “someone coughing deposits germs on workplace surfaces – conference tables, the copy machine and telephones. So anything you can do to limit that helps reduce the risk of infection spreading to other employees.”

So here’s my recommendation to everyone suffering with a cold or the flu who still has manged to summon enough energy to be on the clock: Telework! Atlanta is one of the most wired cities – let’s try to make it one of the healthiest too.