By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

...
Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases caused by the burning of the oil, gas and coal that power our world are enhancing the natural "greenhouse effect," causing the planet to warm to levels that climate scientists say can't be linked to natural forces.

Carbon dioxide levels were around 280 ppm prior to the Industrial Revolution, when we first began releasing large amounts into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels.

For the past 800,000 years, CO2 levels never exceeded 300 parts per million, according to Scripps, which measures CO2 levels along with several other agencies, including NOAA. Records of past levels of CO2 are found in samples of old air preserved as bubbles in the Antarctic ice sheet, Scripps reports.

"The 400-ppm threshold is a sobering milestone, and should serve as a wake up call for all of us to support clean energy technology and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, before it's too late for our children and grandchildren," said Tim Lueker, a Scripps oceanographer.
...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/04/24/carbon-dioxide-keeling-curve-global-warming/2110445/

By EMILY BADGER, The Atlantic Cities

Tucked inside the new Complete Streets Design Guidelines that the city of Chicago is about to debut, pasted onto page 10, is a reproduction of a Chicago Tribune news blurb from May 6, of 1913 with this irresistible headline: “SPEEDER WANTS ALL STREET: Motorist Complains to Judge Because Pedestrian Gets in Way.”

Pedestrian advocates exactly a century later will be happy to know that our 19-year-old anti-hero, Harold Bracken (son of a saloonkeeper!), was fined by the court $200 for knocking over a pedestrian on Michigan Avenue with his speeding car. An equally awesome detail: Our injured pedestrian got up, jumped into a passing car, caught up with Bracken and had him arrested. In doling out the fine, a municipal judge declared, "The Streets of Chicago belong to the city, not to automobilists."
...

"My feeling is that we have to swing the pendulum in the other direction," says Gabe Klein, commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Transportation. "The fact is that the transit user is also a pedestrian, a cyclist is also a pedestrian, an auto user is also a pedestrian. You may not chose the other modes every day, but every day you’re a pedestrian."
...

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/04/chicago-commits-put-pedestrians-first-transportation-planning/5256/

[B' Spokes: I found the argument against employers providing showers very provocative.]
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By Alex Davies, Business Insider

The 2013 Copenhagenize Index of the world's most bike-friendly cities is out, and not a single American metropolis made the top 20.
That's a problem — and not just a health-related one, said Mikael Colville-Andersen, CEO of Copenhagenize, the consulting and communications company that published the Index.

By failing to embrace cycling culture, American cities are losing out on significant financial benefits, Colville-Andersen told Business Insider. Studies show that every kilometer cycled in Denmark earns the country €.23 (partly because cyclists have been shown to spend more money in local stores), he said.

And even with significant taxation of automobiles, every kilometer driven in Denmark costs the country €.16.

The problem in the U.S. is all about perception, said Colville-Andersen. Many commuters see cycling as a form of exercise, not convenient transport, and cities are still being built around automobiles.

How Americans See Cycling
...

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-americans-dont-get-about-cycling-2013-4

[B' Spokes: Of course getting groceries by bike is better but for those of you looking to go car light, this is a good second option.]
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By Francie Diep, Popsci

...
Even companies that don't optimize their trucks' driving routes, and instead just deliver when their customers want them to, create fewer emissions than all of those households would driving by themselves, according to a paper from two civil engineers at the University of Washington in Seattle. Every scenario the engineers examined was a win for delivery, which always saved on emissions by at least 17 percent for their study area around Seattle.

The savings would increase for less dense cities. They're also better if companies have more customers and are able to optimize delivery routes, which led to 80 to 90 percent less carbon dioxide emissions compared to individual household grocery trips.
...

http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2013-04/home-delivered-groceries-saves-emissions-study-finds

By JOHN METCALFE, The Atlantic Cities

...
In England, researchers studying the psychology of surveillance recently discovered that putting posters of glaring eyes above bike racks seemed to ward off thieves. It was no small effect, either: In the three racks they monitored, the number of stolen cycles went down by an incredible 62 percent. There is a big caveat to their findings, though, which we'll get to in a minute.
...

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/04/posters-angry-eyes-actually-scare-bike-thieves/5420/

[B' Spokes: I love promoting those who support bicycling. ]
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...
Learning this first hand was Chris Ford, a Vice President at Whole Foods and cycling enthusiast. “I ride a lot. I’m super passionate about cycling,” noted Ford, who rode the second and perhaps most difficult stage of the ride from Hartford to New York City. “I had never ridden that far and the pace these guys move at is faster than I’ve ever gone. I’m just as passionate about good food and helping these guys our with healthy, organic food really means a lot to me and to our brand.”
...


http://rideonwashington.org/2013/04/whole-foods-market-fuels-ride-on-washington/

Monday, May 20, 2013 7:00pm until 9:00pm in EDT
1 West North Avenue Baltimore, MD

Buy tickets here: http://dinnerandbikesbaltimore.eventbrite.com/

Please join us on May 20 from 7pm to 9pm for a traveling road show of vegan food and bicycle inspiration. Joshua Ploeg will delight with a vegan and gluten free buffet dinner, Elly Blue will present about transportation equity, and Joe Biel will show a near-complete excerpt from Aftermass, his forthcoming documentary about the history of bicycle activism in Portland. The event is followed with a book signing and time for questions, discussion of local issues, and perusing the traveling bookstore.

On the face of it, having a 20mph speed limits around a school entrance seems an sensible idea.
However, a closer inspection may lead us to a very different conclusion

First some background and key facts -
* Only a small minority of child road casualties occur on the way to or from school (Just 20%).
* Very few casualties occur outside the school itself.
* The mean radius of school safety zones is just 300m, yet the mean distance travelled to school is 1.8km.
. Hence the school safety zones apply to only 17% of the journey.2
* At exit gateways to school safety zones drivers are reminded of an increase in speed limit to 30mph.
...

Read more: http://www.8-80cities.org/images/res-streets-articles/how-school-safety-zones-are-not-a-priority.pdf

B' Spokes, so sad. I was really hoping I would be supplanted by these guys and I could be the one to shut down. They will be missed.

http://baltimorevelo.com/2013/04/25/baltimore-velo-is-over/