Living where I live in New England, cycling year round is impractical, plus for my business, I have to be places, sometimes from Boston, to Hartford, to Brattlebor all in the same day.
To that end, I needed to able to carry things, people, plow my driveway when needed etc., So I dive a 4 dr Dodge diesel pick-up. Earlier in it's life I was able to buy B100 (pure veg diesel fuel), and in colder whether, down to around 30 deg, I'd run B-20 (20% of same). Below that only traeted fuel will work w/o the dreaded gelling that occurs. A funny thing started coming to my attention. Every time the price of "dino" diesel went up, Bio-fuels went up so they were always slightly higher. When I asked why, my Bio-fuel dealer told me that the state Dept of Consumer Protection (or whomever) had mandated this so that bio-fuels didn't get "a competitive advantage"(!). I gave up at that point. I commute (35 miles one-way) when I can, drive when I need to and do what's necessary to make a living. I've spent time in Evanston IL, just off the Red Line (I think) and never drove anywhere, even caught the train out to O'hare. Pretty nice but that will never, ever happen in this day of NIMBY. People won't allow it. But if not for that system, those residents would be driving also, without a doubt. As stated in another thread, I'm hoping I see the day when there is no more fuel oil, coal etc., available-use it all up as fast as you can, be glutenous in your consumption. We'll then get nukes, and everything will be electric. Without those reliable sources of power, which solar/wind will never provide, we re screwed anyway. That goes for the rest of the world. Nobody in a developing country thinks about 50 years down the road, that's a luxury we have in the U.S., Europe, etc. BTW, the reason the Euro's can put money into bike lanes, alt trans projects, etc., is because they don't have much of a defense budget-we do that for them!!! Think about it, U.S. bases all over Europe, and trust me, the governments want us there to do that heavy lifting. Lastly, so there is no confusion, I respect the gentleman's right to follow his conscience. He is free and right to do so, as long as what he does, does not pee in the water upstream from where others drink. Sorry, a bit long. RGZ On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 8:51 AM, JoelMatthews <joelmatth...@mac.com> wrote: > Liked the editorial, but disagree with one of GP's points. > > I gave up cars completely and flying for all but work and emergencies > 6 years ago because they are such wasteful modes of transit. To me it > is a green choice. I realize my actions mean very little with most > here in Chicago wtill in cars and O'Hare handling so much unnecessary > flying. > > I believe my choices are the correct ones. So I follow my conscious, > whether it fixes the planet or not. > > On Jan 19, 7:26 am, newenglandbike <matthiasbe...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Wow, that's a good read. "Cars and bikes both are vehicles, in the >> same way that a Glock and a Squirtgun are both guns" is a kind of >> potent analogy right now, however imprecise analogies may be. >> >> The point about bicycle culture/laws in Holland, and the reasonability >> of incentives for commuting in a safe, non-polluting manner is >> something that's resonated with me for a long time. Sometimes I long >> to move to a place like that, but then I wonder why shouldn't I just >> try to be be more active in trying to help change happen here, which >> i'm woefully not and just riding a bike doesn't really do >> anything. It seems futile riding a bike for 'green' reasons, or >> because you think it's right thing to do-- even if you do it for those >> reasons-- and it's easy to end up suppressing frustration at the >> status quo, but reading stuff like this always brings it back to the >> surface, which is probably a good thing. um I doubt that makes any >> sense. which means it's probably too early for me to be typing right >> now. yesterday's ride home west of boston was a slush-ice >> nightmare. Thank god for studded tires but even they were out of >> their league. we were expecting some weather, but if i knew it >> would be that bad I would've stayed home. >> >> On Jan 18, 7:23 pm, James Warren <jimcwar...@earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> > There's an interesting editorial on rivbike right now about how bikes >> > aren't the same as cars. >> >> > It reminds me of something I often remember when teaching students: the >> > idea that doing what's right and fair for a kid is sometimes not the same >> > thing for any two given kids. >> >> > -Jim W.- Hide quoted text - >> >> - Show quoted text - > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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