A work buddy sent this out...
Funny.
But it struck a nerve.
So, while on a conference call of little import but high viability should I disappear, I responded:
I was hoping for $10.00/gal.
WARNING –
But then again.. I would rather ride than drive.
Maybe.. if people rode a bike for trips under 2 miles.. the infrastructure could be rebuilt with realistic and sustainable transportation.
Maybe children that live ACROSS THE STREET from their school could actually walk the ¼ block to the intersection, and the ¼ block back the other side of the street to their school; instead of taking the bus. No, I’m not kidding.
Children are prohibited from walking to school. (Funny, I remember riding my bike, when the tires were pumped up, else I walked)
Something’s changed and it’s more and more disturbing when you take a moment to think about it.
Obesity rate continue to rise, yet we prohibit children from walking to school? Someone made that decision, right? Some paid official looked at all the data and decided that we should have to drive fat kids to school.
So yeah… $8/gallon! I’m in favor.
Stop giving tax breaks to the large petroleum companies, and give 1% of those to local bike shops. They’d be giving bikes away. Take the other 99% and start building communities where cycling and walking is a realistic option. The more people commute by bike, the lower the price of gas. Why? You ask. Simple. Part of the cost of gas, is a tax that is used to repave and maintain the roads. Cyclists have so negligible an impact on asphalt and concrete as to be dismissed altogether. Don’t get me started on the enormously evil impact that autos have on the environment. I’m not even talking ‘green’, I speaking about the number of deaths caused by auto accidents.
The US has ~306,000,000 people (as of 2009). Guess how many were killed by auto accidents?
33,963
Road Traffic accidents makes the top 10 for causes of death worldwide, year after year.
Since bikes are considered ‘alternative’ transportation, we live in a society built around one of the least effective modes of transportation ever designed. Where I live, there are no sidewalks, the only way to get to the store closest to my house is along a 2 mile stretch of 50 MPH 2 lane with a minimal road edge.
The average person is forced, by the design of the infrastructure to drive a car.
How long do you sit in a car, driving to and from work?
What percentage of your life are you doing… nothing useful. How much do you pay per month on your Car? Gas? Maintenance? Insurance?
So.. we work, to pay for a car to drive to the job. Weird.
It takes less energy to bicycle one mile than it takes to walk a mile. In fact, a bicycle can be up to 5 times more efficient than walking. If we compare the amount of calories burned in bicycling to the number of calories an automobile burns, the difference is astounding. One hundred calories can power a cyclist for three miles, but it would only power a car 280 feet (85 meters)!
Final Argument:
She doesn’t look that fit by sitting in a car.
Go back and look at the chart.
On the other hand.. I’ve been playing with hypermiling… I’m getting 4MPG better than I used just by changing how I drive.
On your left.
