Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6 695 occasional ones (OR: 1.2), and respondents who at least sometimes consulted temperature/humidity reports than those who consulted them less often (OR: 1.5). In multivariate analysis, the perception of living in a region susceptible to winter smog, being aware of smog warnings, or the belief in the human contribution to CC did not significantly influence the use of a remote car starter. The use of remote car starters encourages idling which produces increased atmospheric pollution and GHG production and it should be more efficiently and vigorously managed by various activities. A five-minute daily reduction in idling is equivalent to reducing the total car emissions by 1.8%. This would constitute a “no-regrets” approach to CC as it can simultaneously reduce GHG, air pollution and their health impacts. Keywords: Air pollution; car idling; climate change; environment and public health; health- related behavior. 1. Introduction Remote car starters are electronic devices allowing the automatic start of a car from a distance of up to 1.5 kilometres. They can be used to warm up the car in winter time or to cool it down in summer time. The duration of such warming or cooling varies with outside temperature, often taking several minutes per episode, with the associated combustion related pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) production. In Quebec, one car in ten was equipped with a remote car starter in 2006, while other regions in Canada had much lower rates, hovering between 1 and 4% [1]. These Canadian estimates were associated with high absolute numbers, as in 2005, Québec had a total of about 4.2 million light vehicles (which includes cars, station wagons, vans, sport utility vehicles and pick-ups) and other regions, approximately 13.8 million [2]. This means between half a million and one million light vehicles owners can use their remote starters in Canada for idling their vehicles. While no data seems available on remote starter use globally, it represents an annual $250-million market in the United States of America, which means that more than a million such devices get installed on cars every year [3]. However, no detailed data is systematically collected by Canadian authorities to document the use of this technology. Nevertheless, Natural Resources Canada reports that people with remote starters tend to start their vehicles long before there are ready to drive, throughout the year [4], most commonly to warm them up in winter [5], instead of less polluting alternatives such as using cloth seat covers, dressing appropriately or plugging in the car in the morning (or overnight) to warm up the coolant and/or engine oil or to feed AC powered car heaters. In fact, idling an engine to warm it rather than driving for approximately 30 seconds after a cold- start is not only unnecessary according to experts (because a vehicle’s engine and other parts warm up faster when the vehicle is moving), but also an habit which produces more pollution than if the engine were shut off and restarted [6]. Consequently if every driver of a light vehicle in Canada reduced by only five minutes daily the time that his vehicle idled, it would prevent more than 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere [7], which is equivalent to a reduction of 320,000 automobiles travelling for an entire year, or 1.8 % of the total vehicle fleet. Besides this reduction is that of