Friday, April 4, 2014

Friday WTF: "Bicycles cause more pollution than cars."

   This is a bit of old news, but still deserves a look. Early in 2012, Washington state Rep. Ed Orcutt emailed a bike shop owner defending a $25 bike tax on many new bicycles. He 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.”

Rep Orcutt

   This idea is based on a book called How to Live a Low-Carbon Life, by Chris Goodall. This claim is false. There is a lot of science that shows bikes have a lower carbon footprint than cars.  


Bad science?

   Orcutt later admitted that he was incorrect

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