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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People barely use the bike lanes we already have. The number of cyclists is pathetically small, especially given how relentlessly the city promotes it.[/quote]

This is shaping up to be the hottest year in recorded history. Maybe it’s time we start making it easier for people to commute without making things even worse. If you care at all about the planet we will leave future generations, maybe you should also get behind that.[/quote]

Riding bikes makes *zero* difference to global warming. It’s purely symbolic. [/quote]

Cars make a big difference in global warming. You're right that any one individual's choice to bike vs. drive is meaningless, but that doesn't mean making it easier for people not to drive isn't helpful for slowing climate change.[/quote]
Not really. [b]Transportation emissions from private vehicles are a small part of the pie.[/b] You would get more bang for your buck in CO2 emissions by reducing air travel. For example, one seat on a round trip flight from DC to Tokyo produces about the same GHG emissions as a family car in the US. If you’re biking to work but flying all over the world then you are not really helping anything. [/quote]

Actually, the bolded part is not true. The Congressional Budget Office says: "Personal vehicles—cars, light-duty trucks (including sport utility vehicles, crossover utility vehicles, minivans, and pickup trucks), and motorcycles—were responsible for 58 percent of emissions in the transportation sector in 2019." Air falls into a larger bucket that accounted for a total of 17 percent of transportation emissions: "Emissions from commercial trucks and all buses accounted for 25 percent. Together, the following modes of transportation accounted for the remaining 17 percent: air (including commercial passenger aviation, general aviation, air cargo, and military aviation), pipelines (for which fuel is burned to power compressors that keep oil and natural gas flowing at a steady rate), rail (passenger railroads, rail transit, and freight railroads), and water (including ships and boats)."

Transportation, meanwhile, accounted for 38 percent of U.S. emissions in 2019, the largest single share, ahead of even electricity generation.

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58861#_idTextAnchor007

So yes, one round-trip flight to Tokyo accounts for a lot of GHG emissions, but so does driving to work. FWIW, I have flown as far as from D.C. to Tokyo once, 15 years ago, and I bought carbon offsets for that flight (which are a scam in and of themselves, yes, but still probably better than NOT buying them).[/quote]

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