Bicycles 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.

[CarlosAlberto]

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.

Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:26pm

Ronald Reagan already proved that trees cause the most pollution.
Reagan was RIGHT (About everything)

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:27pm

Ronald Reagan was only right about one thing: giving up his acting career.

[suestorm]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:52pm

bicyclists pay tax on their bikes for the roads? i hope you dont mean thru sales tax

[Kad]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:53pm

...they pay for roads through their federal and state income taxes.

[suestorm]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:59pm

as 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.

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:01pm

And 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]

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.

Updated On: 3/4/13 at 03:07 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:10pm

Yeah, those bikers who go the wrong way should pay a "wrong way" tax.

[suestorm]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:12pm

^^ thats funny JC! :)

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...

[artscallion]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:13pm

I 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.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:13pm

Really fat people should have to pay a sidewalk tax, I think.

[madbrian]

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.

[artscallion]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:20pm

Even 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.

[CarlosAlberto]

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.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 8:20pm

I suppose since this guy saw Planet of the Apes he thinks chimps can talk.