Cycling provides ample opportunity (and oxygen) for the mind to roam. Over the miles, the autonomic nervous system’s autopilot function kicks in, tending to the mundane business of locomotion, and consciousness is free to surf the waves of endorphins and elevated blood flows to parts far and wide. Unfortunately, physics has an irritating habit of bursting the thought balloon. Nothing like a flat tire to reaffirm the supremacy of friction over intention, and roadside repair, repair in general, begs the question for the dedicated cyclist “Wouldn’t it be great if I could figure out a way to make this pay for itself?”.

On a physical and philosophical level, the personal payback far outweighs the cost, however unlikely this may seem. On the financial level though, the more you ride, the more you wear stuff out, the more your habit costs in ducats, dinar or dollars. But, setup back from the strictly personal and look at cycling, running or walking as practical means of daily transportation. Expand the cost/benefit analysis from the individual to the context of society at large. According to the World Wildlife Organization

“Bicycling instead of driving will eliminate 20 pounds of personal carbon emissions for every gallon of gasoline an individual avoids using.”

How this exact figure was arrived at is not clear, but taking it at face value then, an individual cyclist’s annual carbon offset value in dollars per year could be calculated. According to the US DOT,

“The average combined MPG for all US cars and light trucks on the road today is 19.8 MPG”.

My GPS says I currently ride about 3K mi/yr, so, if I were driving a fleet average vehicle, I’d be burning about 3k mi/yr/19.8MPG = 151 gal/yr * 20lb/gal = 3030 lb of carbon/ yr. An interesting study published by EcoBusinessLinks shows a very wide range of prices offered by an ever growing array of brokers. For example, one of the best prices currently available in the US (from the offset provider’s standpoint is 29/metric ton.

Carbon Offset Provider	Price (US$/Metric ton CO2)	Non-profit	Projects Types	Project Choice	Offset Types	Product Certification/ Verification* (Links see below table)
Bonneville Environmental Foundation USA	$29.00	Yes	Renewables	No	Home, Air, Business, Event	Green-e Climate Certified

Being an optimist then, my 3030 lbs (1.374 am tons) would be valued at $38.85/yr, or 1.3 cents/mile, enough to buy 1 good tire. There are any number of ways to quibble with the derivation above, but it’s the first time I’ve seen this figure calculated, so it a least provides a point of departure for discussion. I’ve been riding for almost 40 years with no subsidy, and will continue without one. But the object of this exercise is, as noted above, to look at cycling in a larger frame. There are considerations beyond just carbon offset value. In that 40 years of riding, I’ve been to the hospital twice (both times as the result of a cycling accident). I’ve never needed to visit a doctor for anything but routine checkups, my vital signs are consistent with a very healthy 30 year old and, at 55, I take no medications and can anticipate needing none for the foreseeable future, as long as I continue riding.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Reminds Drivers and Bicyclists to Share the Road During Bicycle Safety Month

As more people take to the roads on their bikes, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asks both drivers and cyclists to help reduce the number of cyclist fatalities. In 2007, 698 cyclists were killed in America. Everyone needs to pay attention when using America’s roads, whether they’re walking, biking or driving, LaHood said.

More and more Americans are taking up cycling, including a dramatic increase in bicycling by baby boomers. Whether they’re riding for fun, exercise, or to save on gas, more baby boomers are riding bicycles, according to the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics. Unfortunately, this aging trend can also be found in NHTSA’s latest fatality statistics. For the tenth straight year, the average age of persons killed on bicycles has increased. Research shows that in 1997 the average age of a person killed in a bicycle crash was 31; in 2007 it increased to over 40.”

So, perhaps I can reasonably expect to end my cycling career in an abrupt fashion, thus saving the VA and Medicare significant expense. I am my own “Death Panel”, much to the relief of any number of folks, no doubt. It could then be argued that the (hopefully) immanent health care reform legislation should reasonably take the health care cost savings represented by an active lifestyle into account when allotting subsidies and calculating rates. A comprehensive program to evaluate the societal costs and benefits of lifestyle choices in general and recurrent vigorous physical activity specifically could go some way toward encouraging these behaviors, reducing medical costs and transportation infrastructure, ultimately benefiting the individual, society at large and the global environment as a whole.

Last night on the call-in show on our local public radio station, an irate caller asked “why should I be forced to pay increased insurance rates to cover people who smoke and engage in extreme sports?”. A good question I think, as long as the lifestyle can of worms is fully opened up. If I were of the same mind set, I could just as easily ask ‘why should I be forced to subsidize the health costs of people who never walk further than from the La-Z-Boy to the refrigerator, whose most highly developed muscle is their remote control/gameboy finger and whose diet consists largely of highly processed food-like substances?”. I’m totally willing to go there but let’s do it not on the basis of quantifiable outcomes like blood pressure, resting heart rate, actual medical expenditures (including psychiatric), stress indices and the like.

Just saying.

A dear friend of mine who has been a strict vegetarian for almost 20 years is currently suffering from the whole list of symptoms that the author describes. I have long suspected that there might be a dietary connection to these symptoms but had never heard such a succinct, well researched and eloquently stated argument regarding the relationship of vegetarianism to ill health. I have no axe to grind here, and have for years refrained from expressing my admittedly vague misgivings, in part because I’m an unrepentant carnivore, in part because my default position is to respect others personal choices, and also due to a lack of good research. Ms. Keith has the bona fides of a 20 year vegan and highly qualified researcher so she knows whereof she speaks and has partaken personally of her own conclusions.

In the abstract, if someone wants to be a vegetarian, fine. But when the practical consequences seem to threaten health, well being and happiness,  not just for the person making that choice, but also for the friends and family, making at least a brief two week trial of Ms. Keith’s hypothesis seems a reasonable compromise of principle. Below I post some excerpts and links for http://www.lierrekeith.com/

Emerald Empire Adventures is proud to wholeheartedly support Al Gore’s Repower America campaign for 100% renewable energy in 10 years.

The content below is reproduced here from http://www.repoweramerica.org/state/california/ as a public service.

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We’re more than 262,031 members strong in California

Click here to see specific cost savings and job creation information for California.

Did You Know?

• California is the leading producer of renewable energy in the United States. It ranks 1st in the nation for solar PV, solar thermal, geothermal, and bio-power capacity.It also ranks 3rd in the nation for installed wind capacity.
• California is home to the largest single source of solar energy in the world: a 354 MW solar thermal facility in the Mojave Desert.The state will shatter its own record in 2011 when a 553 MW solar thermal facility built by Solel begins operation, also in the Mojave Desert.According to researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, California’s total solar thermal potential is equal to 12 times the state’s current electricity capacity.
• California’s potential geothermal resources can power every home in the state.The state’s potential unconventional geothermal resources could power another 54 million homes.

To submit clean energy news happening in your state, click here

Clean energy jobs in California

California is at the forefront of electricity generation from non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources, and its policies and investments encourage strong job growth in a clean energy economy. A few companies are already taking part in this new economy by providing ‘green’ jobs.

For example, FPL Group is set to operate its 250-megawatt solar thermal energy plant near Kern County, which will employ roughly 1,000 workers in its operation. And reports estimate that more jobs could be on the way. One study says that $12.7 billion investment on deploying renewable energy and energy efficiency in the Golden State can create 235,000 jobs over two years. And, this study only captures a portion of the service, construction, and technology jobs that will be created in the state by truly Repowering America.

Sources: Center for American Progress, Energy Business Review

Featured story

Aitan Grossman, a 6th grader from California, is using his love for music to help solve the climate crisis. Aitan wrote the song, “100 Generations,” to raise awareness about the dangerous effects of climate change. He has sent his song to schools around the world and is asking children everywhere to add their voices to the chorus.

The result is a global music project with contributions from children in France, Botswana and Taiwan. The song can be downloaded from iTunes or Amazon, and is featured on Aitan’s KidEarth website. Aitan is donating all profits from the song to his favorite environmental charities, including the Alliance for Climate Protection.

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• The Repower America campaign aired an ad in California pushing back on opponents of clean energy, click here to watch.
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Source;  PhysOrg.com
June 21st, 2009 By JEFF BARNARD , Associated Press WriterEnlarge

In this May 15, 2009 photo, Lomakotsi Restoration Project crew supervisor Aaron Nauth stands on the stump of a centuries old tree and looks over an old clearcut that his team has thinned on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest outside Takilma, Ore. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)

(AP) — On a steep slope of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, a crew of young men with chain saws and hardhats worked their way through an old neglected clearcut, cutting brush and young trees and piling the remains to be burned later.

Freshly trained and closely supervised, the crew took care to leave behind volunteer sproutings of dogwood, madrone and huckleberry as well as the sugar pine and Douglas fir planted here 20 years ago. The pattern is designed to grow into a healthy forest less vulnerable to wildfire and better for fish and wildlife, rather than just turn out timber.

The House Hope Stewardship Project, taken off the shelf with $1.4 million from President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package, will thin and restore 890 acres.

It’s a tiny fraction of the 60 million to 80 million acres the U.S. Forest Service estimates need it nationwide, but people here feel as if this is a start – not only to grappling with the growing threat of wildfire in a warming climate, but in healing rifts between environmentalists, the timber industry and the Forest Service that have left the national forests in limbo.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say there is peace in the valley, but we are closer than ever before,” said Shane Jimerfield, director of the Siskiyou Project, a local conservation group that grew out of the protests.

The national forests of the Northwest became a crucial national lumber source after World War II when the baby boom fueled a huge demand for new houses. But by the 1980s scientists began to worry that species like the northern spotted owl and some salmon were headed for extinction due to a loss of habitat.

Environmentalists won court orders stopping that logging, and the Clinton administration came up with the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994, which cut logging by more than 80 percent and set aside huge areas for fish and wildlife habitat. After President George W. Bush was elected in 2000 his administration tried to dismantle the Northwest Forest Plan and increase logging but was repeatedly blocked by more court rulings.

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Source; [mendocommunity-BB] Walking & Bicycling City Plan Workshop-May 28

When: Thursday, May 28, 2009, 4:00 to 6:00 PM
Where: Willits City Council Chambers
111 East Commercial St, Willits, California

Dear Friends,
I believe that it is time we invested more in pedestrian and bicycle
friendly infrastructure in Willits. This is the direction we must go in the
future for a number of important reasons including the following:

1. Walking and bicycling can help improve our health and reverse the
epidemic of obesity and diabetes we face.
2. Walking and bicycling is less expensive than driving and is better for
the environment.
3. Walking and bicycling is good for creating community and helps support
our local living economy.

Those who want to support these efforts should plan to attend the
Bicycle & Pedestrian Specific Plan Workshop where citizen input is being
requested by Alan Falleri, Community Development Director.

The City is considering two specific pavement and sidewalk
rehabilitation plans on West Commercial and Central Streets. Let’s be sure
these plans offer what is best for our town. These 2 hours could make a
huge difference in Willits for years to come.

Let our voices be heard. See you on the 28th.
Jed Diamond, Co-Founder Willits Healthy Action Team
For more information:

Alan Falleri (459-7124;
arf@willitscity. com
Jed Diamond (459-5505;
Jed@MenAlive. com)
Tom Woodhouse (459-4677;
tmgwoodhouse@ hotmail.com

Bicycle & Pedestrian Specific Plan Workshop

The City of Willits will hold a workshop on Thursday, May 28, 2009 from 4:00
to 6:00 p.m. at the Willits City Council Chambers, 111 East Commercial
Street, Willits, California, to gather public comments on issues related to
the bicycle and pedestrian needs within the City. The comments will be used
in completing the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Specific Plan.

The City started work with local citizens several years ago to identify and
analyze issues regarding bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements needed
in our community and to set goals, objectives, policies and implementation
strategies to address those issues. The City of Willits has contracted with
consulting firm, PMC, to complete this Specific Plan which, once adopted by
the City Council, will become an element of the City’s General Plan.

It is very important that we hear from local citizens, who know best what
the conditions and needs in the community are relative to bicycle and
pedestrian issues so that the information, perspectives and insights of the
citizens can become a vital part of the fabric of the Bicycle and Pedestrian
Specific Plan.

Staff from PMC and the City Community Development Department will be
conducting the workshop, responding to any questions and making a record of
those comments offered by the public. If you can not attend the workshop,
you may submit written comments up to May 29th to Alan Falleri, Community
Development Director, 111 East Commercial Street, Willits, CA 95490. Any
questions about the workshop can also be directed to Alan Falleri at
459-7124.

Jed Diamond, Ph.D., LCSW, author
Male Menopause & The Irritable Male Syndrome
www.MenAlive. com
www.TheIrritableMal e.com

Emerald Empire Adventures supports tis effort and invites the public to use this thread to discuss and organize around this issue.

Map of Willits City Council Chambers, 111 East Commercial St, Willits, California

  

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