CALGARY, Alta. — The City of Calgary has kyboshed a plan to fine people who excessively idle their vehicles.

Instead, the city will target owners of vehicles that burn excessive oil, producing blue smoke.

“We’ve got bigger fish to fry (than public idling),” Ald. Craig Burrows said at a meeting last night. “What we should be going after is blue smoke – to me it’s a safety issue more than an environmental issue.”

City Council had originally been planning to slap fines against vehicle owners who let their vehicles idle for longer than necessary. Some councillors shot down the idea, suggesting it would be impossible to enforce.

However, Ald. Druh Farrell refused to let it go, taking a poke at commercial vehicle operators in the city. She accused commercial drivers of spending 65 per cent of their time idling their trucks.

“It’s a huge issue…in the absence of any laws coming from our provincial government, let’s do something now,” she urged.