Energy Efficient Politicos
Jim Oberstar, U.S. representative from northern Minnesota and R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis demonstrate support for bicycling initiatives at the national and local levels.
Stories here
A couple of little things:
- Oberstar apparently initiated the national Safe Routes to Schools program (encouraging biking/walking).
- Rybak pushing for dedicated bikeways to a new baseball stadium.
It appears that they understand that any fundamental change begins with the kids.
posted by @whut at June 13, 2004
2 Comments:
Not really anon., I just don't want to bother with signing in.
I just found and bookmarked your blog, it looks useful. I've been telling people for a while that Reagan/Bush oil politics got us into these wars (physical and cultural entanglements alike) and needless environmental damage, by putting off reforms that should have gone into high gear twenty years ago. Really, the handwriting was on the wall in 1980 for anyone who paid attention.
Even before that, I spent May 1979 in Anchorage, AK which has one of the best bike trail systems anywhere. You can ride all over that city without interacting with cars (even the 4-lane out to the Matanuska Valley has culvert tunnels underneath for the bikes). This is only one example of how we shoulda been doing things. Of course, the 1964 earthquake left something of a blank slate for the trail system. There's something to be said for disasters that make room for improvements.
Tom Buckner
tcbevolver@yahoo.com
Several cities have good models for bicycle transit. Perennial top 10 include Davis, Boulder, Madison. I wouldn't be surprised if Anchorage ranks high. Usually college towns with good outdoors reputations fare the best.
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