.jpg "$4 per Gallon Gas a Good Thing?")
We all know that oil prices have been on the rise. Supplies are not unlimited and between the political instability in the Middle East, the imminent potential for violence in Nigeria, and a host of other variables – we don’t exactly have a reliable influx.
As EcoGeek reports, the recent $100 per barrel oil price that threatens to return could very well mean $4 / gallon gas pump prices by spring.
When the United States faced oil embargoes in the 70’s, one positive result was the demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. Since that time, and lacking any firm incentives from consumers, greenwashing notwithstanding, the auto industry has barely made an improvement in their lineups’ gas-stinginess.
In Europe, where petrol prices are several times higher than the U.S., small, efficient cars are the norm. But there’s also an accompanying tradition of good mast transit, walkable cities, and a support for cycling. Perhaps a spike in fuel prices is just what we need in the U.S. We’ll be forced to stop developing sprawl, which in turn increases gas consumption, pollutes our air, causes global warming, and perhaps kills us all.
It’s no secret that our oil supply is finite. Why burn it all up and suffer the accompanying ill-effects rather than prioritizing more sustainable alternatives now? More importantly – why haven’t we realized that there are solutions staring us in the face based on old technology? Legs for walking, bicycles, trains, heck – even subways and buses have been around for a long time. What will it take for us to realize that driving a car with a gas-fired internal combustion engine is the root of many of the problems we face?
The overused analogy of “the frog in the pot” seems the most apropos. When the temperature is slowly raised, the frog stays immersed and slowly cooks to death. Perhaps a spike in gas prices is just the pronounced temperature increase we need to make us jump from the cauldron and save our own asses.
Via our friends at EcoGeek.
Related posts:
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad I looked at the link before I made a comment. They look good but that first one you have listed with the guy on the bike with the hat. Looks to WWII Nazzi for my taste. Just replace the star with a swastika and it’s not good. :’(
However I see some I’d like to make into Tee shirts.
Ok, one last comment on this one. I hope they don’t just plaster a bunch of telephone poles with this message. because unless its poster size the person driving the car will never see it and the only ones that will are the walkers and bikers. A.K.A.: Preaching to the choir. A.K.A.: waste of time and money.
The first image is a play in the Chinese red army propaganda art – not Nazi stuff. That and the Russian communist propaganda from the 20s/30s *is* beautiful, and often copied, in spite of being way over the top and in support of oppressive regimes…
The site DOES offer t-shirts as well. And they encourage printing on postcards and disseminating on windshields too – they even have a design for a fake “ticket,” which is sure to grab a motorist’s attention.
I love that we all want to promote cycling, but if all the happy cyclists in the posters aren’t wearing helmets, then I believe it defeats the purpose of promoting cycling in the first place. If we don’t encourage people to bike safely and responsibly, we continue to divide our cycling base, as well as give the auto-crats reason to write us off. They look cool though.
Chris: Yours is a common complaint. However, look at cyclists in Europe or, specifically at a post we did about Amsterdam. [url]http://www.carectomy.com/index.php/Bikes/Bikes-Rule-in-Amsterdam[/url]
NOBODY wears helmets.
These people don’t feel unsafe largely b/c they don’t feel that they’re likely to be hit. Other studies show that motorists will give a cyclist a wider berth when he/she rides without a helmet, and isn’t clad in spandex.
The more of an “everyday” activity that cycling becomes, the safer it becomes. The helmet changes the perception of the activity… and maybe affects how safe it really is.
If you’re going to crash – you’re better off wearing a helmet. And, for the record, I’m playing a bit of the devil’s advocate role here – I ride with my helmet 99% of the time.
I’ve been meaning to post about this very topic – thanks for reminding me!
Josh: Thanks for the reply. I would love to feel as safe on American roads as I have on European ones, but unfortunately I don’t. Apples, oranges, I think. Europe, especially as bike friendly/design oriented a city as Amsterdam is a place I would feel about 100% safer not wearing a helmet, but unfortunately Seattle is NO Amsterdam.
I agree with you in theory about the more “everyday” biking becomes, the safer it becomes, but until some very real policy, legislation and cultural awareness happens, I will not be volunteering to risk my brain/life to send that particular message.
I would also counter with and venture a thought further and say that a lot of the new wave of hipster-fixie-alternative folks, who typically do not wear a helmet that I see make some very poor/reckless riding decisions, and that’s fine, except that also sends a certain message about cycling that reflects on all of us, helmeted or not.
I’d like to read your(future)helmet article as I think this will be a hot topic, especially with all of the cycling awareness efforts happening and on the way. When cities start encouraging everyone and kids to jump on their bikes, you better bet there will be parent groups piping up pretty fast about helmets and saftety concerns.
good points Chris – much of the burgeoning hipster-fixie-sans-brakes (and often brains) scene doesn’t exactly make cycling look either safe or worthy of motorists’ – or pedestrians’- respect. these are also some of the least likely people in the US to don helmets.
But there is a statement being made when a cyclist puts on a helmet. Something along the lines of, “I’m participating in a risky activity and better protect my noggin’.”
In fact, cycling within the rules of the road is a very safe activity. Maybe we should be putting helmets on car-drivers, an activity that is more likely to result in injury or death.