Mike Kehoe

Driven Environmentalist,
St. John's, Newfoundland

Four years ago Mike Kehoe was unloading luggage, wreathed in the blue smoke that was belching from another cab beside his own when a precocious eight-year-old passenger piped up, "What are you taxi drivers doing to my environment?" When the cabbie repeated the remark at the family dinner table that night, his teenage daughter, Lisa, said, "You guys are leaving a mess."

Since then Mike has worked hard to prove her wrong. First, he found several other taxi drivers who were keen to limit their industry's impact on the environment. Then, after partnering with the City of St. John's and Environmental organizations, they formed Smart Taxis Encouraging Environmental Respect (STEER) in 2002.

STEER teaches local cabbies how to cut emissions by maintaining their vehicles and reducing idling. Next, STEER would like to target teen drivers and, with help from the federal government, expand the program to other communities.

It's quite an accomplishment for a man who used to be "an armchair environmentalist," not an activist. In fact, when STEER began, he and his fellow cabbies wondered if they could really make a difference, says Mike. "Now I know we can be ambassadors for the environment."

Mike says:
"The publicity the awards generated was a positive contribution to the work the steering committee is engaged in, and It has opened even more doors for our work."