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Send that heap to Car Heaven! Clean Air Foundation launches annual car
recycling program in Halifax
| Halifax, NS,
June 27, 2006
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This morning local Strongman Darrell Crouse helped officially launch Car
Heaven in Atlantic Canada by hauling off an old, higher polluting vehicle and
replacing it with a new, more fuel efficient and lower emission 2006 Pontiac
Wave. This year Car Heaven aims to retire up to 20,000 vehicles across Canada.
To date, more than 34,000 high-polluting vehicles have been retired through
Car Heaven, amounting to reductions of more than 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse
gas emissions, 15,000 tonnes of carbon monoxide emissions and 4,000 tonnes of
smog forming emissions. It would take almost 500,000 brand new vehicles to
emit the same amount of smog-forming emissions as the 34,000 that have been
retired through Car Heaven.
The year-round Car Heaven
program, run by the Clean Air Foundation in association with General Motors
Canada and Imperial Oil, is dedicated to accelerating the retirement of older,
higher polluting vehicles and to promoting a shift to new, cleaner and more
efficient alternatives. Each donor receives a minimum $50 charitable tax
receipt from the Canadian Diabetes Association and his/her vehicle is towed
free of charge by the Automotive Recyclers Association of Atlantic Canada. In
addition, General Motors will provide a $1,000 certificate that can by applied
to the purchase of just about any new GM vehicle if the vehicle donated to Car
Heaven is a 1995 model year or older, in running condition, licensed and
insured for the previous consecutive 6 months.
“Through Car
Heaven we can get more new, cleaner technology on the road faster, and that’s
good for the environment,” said Claude Gour, district sales manager for
General Motors of Canada. “Car Heaven is one of many strategies that GM is
involved with to reduce the impact vehicles have on the environment. Since
1970, GM has reduced smog-causing emissions from vehicles by 99.7 per cent,
with the introduction of sophisticated emission control technology and GM
vehicles have earned more EnerGuide fuel efficiency awards than any other
manufacturer.”
The new low emission vehicles that are
manufactured today generate at least 100 times less VOCs and 44 times less NOx
than vehicles of similar size that were manufactured prior to 1988. In fact,
the average vehicle donated to Car Heaven (model year 1990-1991) is 33 times
more polluting than a brand new 2006 Pontiac Wave.
“Older
vehicles are simply inefficient, doing damage to the pocket book and to our
atmosphere. The Car Heaven program is the best option for safely recycling
your older vehicle and purchasing a new one,” said Ersilia Serafini, Executive
Director of the Clean Air Foundation. “We hope that Atlantic Canada residents
will welcome the program and help us haul more old clunkers off the road this
year.”
“The Car Heaven Angels who visit Esso retail
locations help promote the program and provide added value to our customers
with helpful tips on how to keep their cars running efficiently,” said Alan
Jeffers, Imperial Oil, Public Affairs Advisor, Imperial Oil. “At Esso -- we're
drivers too, and the Car Heaven program not only makes good economic sense for
our customers, it's also responsible common sense for the environment.”
Donor forms and program details are available online at
www.carheaven.ca or, by calling 1-866-535-7312 or by visiting GM
dealerships across Atlantic Canada.
About Clean Air
Foundation
The Clean Air Foundation is a not-for-profit
organization dedicated to developing, implementing and managing public
engagement programs and strategic approaches that lead to measurable emissions
reductions, to improve air quality and protect the climate. The Clean Air
Foundation manages eight public engagement programs - Car Heaven, Mow Down
Pollution, Keep Cool, Energy Smarts, Switch Out, Cool Shops, Climate-Air
Connections and Chill Out.
About General Motors
Headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, General Motors of Canada employs more than
20,000 people nationwide. GM of Canada manufactures a variety of vehicles,
engines, transmissions and other components, and markets the full range of
General Motors vehicles and related services through 765 dealerships and
retailers across Canada. Vehicles sold through this network include Chevrolet,
Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Cadillac.
Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil is one of Canada's largest
corporations and a leading member of the country's petroleum industry. It is
one of the largest producers of crude oil and natural gas and is also the
country's largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products, sold primarily
under the Esso and Mobil brand names through a coast-to-coast supply network
that includes close to 2,000 retail outlets.
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