Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#1Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:14pm
Washington State Rep. Ed Orcutt (R) recently claimed that riding bicycles causes more pollution than driving cars.
According to SeattleBikeBlog.com, Orcutt wrote an email to a voter who disagreed with his support for a new tax on the sales of bicycles.
In his email, Orcutt wrote: “If I am not mistaken, a cyclists [sic] has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride.”
Orcutt also claimed that when people drive cars they are helping to pay for the roads, whereas bicyclists “need to start paying for the roads they ride on rather than make motorists pay.”
So there.
It must be true.
#2Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:20pm
yes, it must be true even though...
...bicyclists ALREADY pay state and local taxes for roads.
...but [Orcutt] admitted to having no evidence to back up his claim.
This is my thought on the whole situation:
If you don't have evidence to back up your claims then please have a seat in the corner and STFU.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#2Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:26pm
Ronald Reagan already proved that trees cause the most pollution.
Reagan was RIGHT (About everything)
#3Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:27pmRonald Reagan was only right about one thing: giving up his acting career.
suestorm
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/15/13
#4Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:52pmbicyclists pay tax on their bikes for the roads? i hope you dont mean thru sales tax
#5Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:53pm...they pay for roads through their federal and state income taxes.
suestorm
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/15/13
#6Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:59pmas does everyone who buys anything. in that case so do skateboarders, skaters, and scooters and moms pushing strollers.. whatthey dont do is pay dedicated taxes as you must when registering a car, getting a car inspected, a motorcycle or buying a gallon of gas which goes directly to the roads.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#7Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:01pmAnd yes, Car drivers pay more in taxes but a 40 pound bike also inflicts a bit less wear and tear on the roads than a 6000 pound SUV.
suestorm
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/15/13
#8Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:07pm
not saying they should pay the same, that would be silly, saying they should pay their fair share... reponding to CARLOS who said they do
expecially since Bloomberg is bike crazy, building all these lanes without ryhme or reason...sometimes in the middle of the street!!! it makes me SMH whenever i walk in the city or in brooklyn and the bike lanes are always EMPTY or the one bikes going the wrong way and the car lanes are full.
#9Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:10pmYeah, those bikers who go the wrong way should pay a "wrong way" tax.
suestorm
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/15/13
#10Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:12pm^^ thats funny JC! :)
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#11Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:12pm
Some places have Bike Registration fees. Chicago, which is a VERY bike-friendly city, has debated the idea but it comes down to this: IF you TAX something, people do LESS of it and we should ENCOURAGE people to drive bikes instead of cars whenever possible.
That is why I posted this idiot's remarks- if you can't understand that BIKES are better than CARS for the environment...well...
#12Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:13pmI ride a bike and I own a car. So I pay just as much as anyone else. AND, on top of that, whenever I'm riding my 50lb bike around, I'm lessening wear to the roads that driving my 5000 lb car would be doing, even though I'm paying my full share.
#13Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:13pmReally fat people should have to pay a sidewalk tax, I think.
#14Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:17pm
One could make the argument that there should be some sort of fee or registration cost to cover whatever minimal costs there may be for bike users. For me, that argument is greatly outweighed by the obvious point others have made that travelling by bike is better than travelling by car, and therefore should be encouraged rather than discouraged. However, when one makes an outrageously stupid comment like the one made regarding pollution, it immediately distracts from any meaningful discourse. Not unlike the ridiculous remarks made last year by various Republicans regarding rape.
And Jordan - I ain't payin' no sidewalk tax. We take our cars, we don't walk anywhere.
#15Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:20pmEven thin people, in groups, who refuse to walk single file, forcing oncoming people onto the grass or street should have to pay an extra convenience-at-others'-expense tax.
#16Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 5:16pm
...reponding to CARLOS who said they do...
I didn't "say" anything. I was quoting the linked article.
#17Bicycles cause more pollution than cars
Posted: 3/4/13 at 8:20pmI suppose since this guy saw Planet of the Apes he thinks chimps can talk.
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