Take that gas prices!

Came across a posting of the cartoon below on a New Zealand blog. Too bad folks in the land 'way down under' can figure things out before lots of people in the good ole U. S. of A.

From:
http://www.raleighusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/gasmileage.jpg

Another poach from the Benjacat Blog

Dave's gone and done it again. He's thrown some more fuel on the fire he lit recently by pointing out Rep John Boehner's misguided comments regarding commuting by bike.

Culture?

I think the culture he refers to is more widespread than it should be; I have witnessed it firsthand. Bicycles are seen as toys while cars are seen as a part of growing up. Well America is definitely growing and not in a good way. Just do a Google search for "Fat Americans". I'll even make it really easy, just click the link so you don't need exercise your fingers. ;) I especially like the Wired article that turned up in the over 50,000 results.

We are all paying for this mentality and culture, whether we realize it or not. Pollution, rush-hour, urban sprawl, traffic accidents/fatalities, oil/gas /energy prices, obesity and other health problems could be mitigated if more people rode bikes or used public transportation.

Hopefully we can revert from this mentality and learn from the European community. Or we can just continue to be seen by the world as FAT Americans...

Okay - Now I'm a bit PISSED!

Dave brought something to my attention the other day with this post:

http://benjacat.blogspot.com/2007/12/bout-that-240.html



While the Bicycle Commuter Act (HR 807) was included as part of the Energy Bill sent to the Senate, it was stripped from the bill along with several other "green initiatives" and " all tax provisions in the bill".

Below here is a link to a transcript of Ohio Representative (and House minority leader) John Boehner's prior remarks about the bill.

From: http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=80156



"... This is not what the American people want their money to go to.

"And although this is not an earmark, what I really liked in the bill was the $240 tax credit that we are going to provide every 15 months for people who regularly ride their bike to work for the purchase repair or storage of their bicycle. Now, amongst us, I know there's one of my colleagues that would probably benefit from this. I hope he's going to recuse himself when we vote.

"This is not going to solve America's energy problem. I think we ought to get serious as a country about energy independence and saving our future and the future for our kids. But while we are here dealing with this bill that doesn't frankly do much and will not solve our problem, think about what we haven't done. ..."


From: http://www.roadbikerider.com/currentissue.htm#shorts

Good news / bad news. The League of American Bicyclists reports that the Bicycle Commuter Act was included in the Comprehensive House Energy Bill on Dec. 6. Among other things, the act would give a tax credit to people who commute to work by bike. The idea is to offset costs associated with commuting (maintenance, repairs, bike storage) so more people will be encouraged to get out of cars and onto bicycles. Unfortunately, LAB reports, the Senate has seen fit to throw out all tax provisions in the bill. Hope remains, though, because that action will be reconsidered during a committee meeting. If you're a voter in Ohio or Washington, you may want to read what LAB terms "unfortunate remarks" about bike commuting by John Boehner (R-OH) and Doc Hastings (R-WA). They're highlighted in a PDF prepared by the League from the House debate: http://tinyurl.com/24w9l9

From: http://bikeportland.org/2007/12/14/bike-commuter-benefit-does-not-survive-senate-vote-on-energy-bill/ (at the bottom)

...
Here's a little bonus audio from Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) taking a pot-shot at the bike commuter provision of the "Pork laden" Energy Bill. (I recorded this from a YouTube video of comments he made on the House Floor on December 6th.)

From: http://www.bikedenver.org/news/bad-news-from-congress/

Sat 15 Dec 2007
Bad News from Congress
Posted by Bicycle Maniac under News


I normally don't do polemics, but my blood is about to boil in watching our not so good friend in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, trash the Bike Commuter Act (which was successfully stripped out of the transportation bill). Here, watch for yourself.

What Boehner doesn't mention is that right now, drivers get a deduction of up to $2580 per year, funded by you, the taxpayer, so that they can park their cars at work. In that context, a $240 per year deduction for people who choose to bike not only seems like the least we could do, IT STILL SEEMS GROSSLY UNFAIR. My favorite quote, "this isn't going to solve our energy crisis…" Great point John, so why do anything at all? If the opposite of Pro is Con, then is Congress the opposite of Progress? I think in John Boehner's case, Yes.

Bummer - DST

I just realized last night that the time change is going to mean sunset is coming an hour earlier. For some reason I thought that we were going to gain almost an hour of riding time after the DST change this Sunday. Bummer. Time to charge up my LightInMotion. I also might see what kind of deal Solo Goat would give me on some of his used lighting equipment here.


On a different racing front, there's good news in Formula 1. They're going Green:

http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/news/2007/11/formula_one

ENVIRONMENT

Please see http://www.blogactionday.com/ for lots of good information on how we can save the PLANET.

Reduce, reuse, recycle