|Friend of Dogs |Science Adherent |Environmentalist ~techie ~civil eng |unrepentant godless liberal |born at 323 ppm ~fermenter |#BikeCommuter ~#carlite ~more
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You don’t get a transport shift by funding all modes equally. That’s an illusion and a waste of taxpayer money. After decades of investing billions into car infrastructure, real change means prioritizing sustainable mobility and disinvesting from cars: closing roads, cutting parking, big scale.
Would you trust this man to control your child's education? freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2...
TL;DR - not just "No", but "FUCK NO!".
The part I agree with in this piece is the idea that there should be a sliding scale for fines based on income. If cameras don't issue points, rich people see the fine as nothing more than a small price to pay in order to do whatever the heck they want.
Welcome, September. If you see a Yuba FasTrack that looks like the one stolen from me in August, please reach out. There aren't many of them like it out there and I miss it 😭 (It has been reported and registered thoroughly.)
Tolkkinen LITERALLY “all violence matters” in this column: “By the way, do we really need to say ‘gun violence?’ Can’t we just say ‘deadly violence?’” www.startribune.com/tolkkinen-sh...
Does your local grocery store look like this? If not, it’s probably because: 1) zoning created large distances between housing & stores. 2) the streets between housing & stores are unsafe for biking. 3) there isn’t any/enough bike parking 1/2
We need child-safe traffic – not traffic-safe children.
Teh LOjiK: "Impaired driving causes many of the 40,000 deaths from car wrecks each year in the U.S., nearly as many as firearms deaths. In banning certain kinds of firearms, we might open the door to other kinds of mass violence." 2/2
Teh LOjiK: "It’s also important to remember that a ban on certain guns won’t erase other threats. Cars can be used to plow into crowds; in January, a man killed 14 people driving into a crowd in New Orleans. Let’s not forget Timothy McVeigh and his fertilizer-packed rental truck." 1/2
BTW, that original photo is by @brooklynspoke.bsky.social.
Owning one of these gets you accused of being an elitist who's imposing his lifestyle on other people.
Good morning with good news: CA's solar & wind generated more than 50% of CA's electricity for 3 consecutive months! CA is world's 4th largest economy. 2025: April (51.8%), May (52.4%) & June (51.2%) 2015: April (21.2%), May (23.2%) & June (19.5%) S&W 3X in GWh from June 2015-June 2025 #energysky
1,000%!
It's kind of amazing she didn't go head-on with someone.
CARmudgeon
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Sound of the day - startled goldfinches as they depart from coneflowers.
#ThisIsFine
This should be headline news - the implications are horrifying …
Despite safety being a national goal, crash data fails to capture the full scope of injuries, infrastructure conditions, or who is most at risk. In order to seriously improve safety on our roads, we need to standardize this data. See more 👇 t4america.org/2025/08/25/i...
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I genuinely think one thing that trips up folks on the left is that they can't imagine not sharing certain core values. Lemme explain. Here's an intuition pump: Say you're in negotiations with counterparty X. And there are two possible deals on the table ...
A non-zero-sum worldview is, in my mind, the core of what it means to be "on the left." You believe that through cooperation & solidarity, we can *all* benefit. Indeed, if you look back through history, you find that non-zero-sum cooperation is the root of pretty much every human advance!
We can do this, people. It's not even that difficult.
Watching the Target Field light displays "warming up", I wonder if the Twins ever have games where all the lights and sounds are off. A "throwback" style of game, if you will...
And another - Riders of the Moon by Arc De Soleil. @radiok.bsky.social #DJLeafygreens
Of course they are.
Nice one, @radiok.bsky.social! Graze, by she's green. #DJLeafygreens
Here's a distinction I've been testing out. Car brains are people who cannot imagine any other way of getting from Point A to Point B. Car imperialists are elected & appointed officials who are well aware of the alternatives & are determined to block them. #CarBrain
Monday at the state fair. Build more bike infrastructure.
Big new study looking at EVs versus ICEVs. Don't let anyone gaslight you against EVs. The message is simple: going electric lowers emissions in every scenario compared to getting something using old fossil fuel burning technology from the last century! scienceblog.com/electric-car...
You may not be able to build renewable power plants but here is what YOU can do. 1. Live car free 2. Shift to BEV 3. One less flight (long return) 4. Use renewable electricity 5. Shift to public transport 6. Vegan diet 7. Heat pump 8. Electrify cooking equipment 9. Use renewable-based heating
None of the left attempted to dismantle the whole / those system(s)?
1 of 3 bike parking lots at the MN State Fair this week: Evidence that the Twin Cities’ investment in a network of protected bike infrastructure is paying off. More and more people are using bikes for more and more trips.
Microsoft copilot for Excel has a warning not to use it for “business critical” calculations because the answer may not be accurate. Would someone explain why I might *ever* want to use a spreadsheet where results are unreliable?
BUT WHAT ABOUT CHINA
Opponents of lower speed limits in cities often argue that they would actually increase emissions. But it's actually a lot more complicated than that. This study looks into it properly and finds that they can reduce emissions by 10% doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
China installed 212 gigawatts of solar capacity in the first six months of the year, more than America's entire capacity of 178 gigawatts as of the end of 2024 www.independent.co.uk/news/china-a...
Have you tried asking AI?
A fundamental principle of big, strong, and manly Republicans is, "I should never have to see anything that makes me even remotely uncomfortable."
Lawn mower guy having a bad day on the Greenway yesterday...
Troubling facts from Heather Cox Richardson that again expose Trump's claim that he would bring down prices: The wholesale price of vegetables jumped 38.9% in July. NPR reported that electricity prices have “jumped more than twice as fast as the overall cost-of-living in the last year."
It’s funny to hear Trump aides accuse wind and solar farms of overusing land, because the corn ethanol they love uses 100X as much land per unit of energy. Land is great at growing food and storing carbon; it sucks at growing fuel.
I'll never get sick of this scene on my bike commute. Love the amazing construction of the Improvement Arches & with all the rain we've had this year things are so lush & green. Funny to think about how a few hundred yards away people are sitting in traffic on the interstate. I'll take this any day.
I've come to understand that prioritizing green space (trees) throughout this corridor & positioning the corridor for possible BRT, with the (obvious) retention of parking, resulted in replacing the previously shown two-way bikeway with a 12' bi-directional shared use path. Just the messenger here.
Minneapolis folks: Please consider leaving a comment with your thoughts (ideally, constructive & specific) for the Lyndale Ave project team. I have no idea if they'll listen to us, but it's one step you can take today to push against this very awful design.
The final concept design for Lyndale Ave is out and friends, it's really bad. They have a SHARED USE PATH on the east side of the street. You don't put shared use paths in busy commercial areas, especially when this is in one of the densest neighborhoods in the entire state! @hennepin.bsky.social
Our state is renowned not only for the natural beauty but also for being among the healthiest and happiest of any in the nation! This is in no small part due to the robust biking culture that can be found in every community and every corner of Minnesota! www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adve...
Happy 25th birthday to Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway! I wrote about what a miracle it is. www.minnpost.com/cityscape/20...
Love this LTE! Especially "autonomous kids"!!!
Bikes are very practical for people with kids — even more so if your city has infrastructure to make it safe.
Erin has one heck of an outer wind max this morning – almost as strong as its inner eyewall, but a whopping 100 miles from its center. Pressures down to 948 mb. Tons of energy in this hurricane and a HUGE wave generator for the western Atlantic.
And better for families in SOOOO MANY WAYS - fiscal, environmental, social, physical/mental health, ...
*Gesturing to the scrolling parent to roll down the window on their idling Chevy Tahoe.
Last day to do this, transportation advocates!
The Midtown Greenway is a transportation miracle that should be replicated. Whereas car-only roadways are deleterious to health, community, & property values, car-free corridors are the opposite. Worthy of celebration, expansion, & replication. www.minnpost.com/cityscape/20...
It's not the weather and it is not the start times. If we are serious about creating a healthy, successful, and happy student population in Minnesota, we need to get serious about creating a transportation network that prioritizes safe and convenient connections for all. streets.mn/2025/08/19/s...
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If you're in the Saint Paul area on Saturday, please join our chapter for a ride celebrating the official hometown candy bar of midwest cyclists! the Pearson's Salted Nut Roll! Register here so the organizers know how many to expect! www.eventbrite.com/e/saint-paul...
"In terms of [crash] deaths per 100,000 population, the rates of deaths in the U.S are seven times higher than in Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom."
That means that a storm - which in the 1980s - had a RI of 40 mph in 24 hours, would likely have an RI of 60 mph in 24 hours now (on average). That makes storms much more destructive (if they landfall of course). It’s not coincidence, it’s climate change! 5/
...absolutely incredible. Here's what Medieval Bologna would have looked like when all its towers were intact. Florence didn't have so many but did have dozens, so the richest part of the city center would have looked much like this. Much to the despair of the city fire brigade! 11/?
Want to ask MnDOT why they're removing the at-grade boulevard options? Now you can! Grab coffee and attend MnDOT's Coffee in the Community event on August 18. More details below ⤵️ www.ourstreetsmn.org/event/coffee...
The bike is not a perfect replacement for the car, as it lacks the required range. Likewise, the train lacks the door-to-door convenience. But combine these two modes into a single system, and a seamless mobility option is unlocked—capable of reducing congestion by replacing thousands of car trips.🧵
On most of the world’s land, solar can generate 100x more energy per acre vs biofuels A solar powered EV can go 300x as many miles as a biofuel powered vechicle per acre #EnergySky
Source?
Those are both awesome shirts!
First step - get everyone to recognize they are epeds (as in, e-mopeds), NOT e-bikes.
Just last week I saw a person out for a walk with their iguana!!!
Rule 78: Put Street Trees Almost Everywhere Street trees do it all, they... Cut crashes by 45% Raise home values 9% Boost retail sales 12% Clean air, cool streets, absorb stormwater, improve health, and make places more inviting Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
put street trees everywhere you can in a neighborhood, make curb cuts so that their roots can absorb storm water from the street, grow native plants around their base, check back in five years and count how many welfare and health measures have improved
I commute in lycra occasionally. I also do "fun" rides in shorts and a t-shirt. This is so silly. Why do we, as cyclists, need to create "tribes." Everyone on a bike is doing it right, and we should fight for the rights and safety of every single person on a bike no matter what they wear.
Riding bikes is 10X more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities. And that’s just the climate emissions part. #ClimateCrisis theconversation.com/cycling-is-t...
Angie Schmitt reminds us, over a five-year period, 150 elderly folks (over age 75) apparently "darted" or "dashed" into the road before being killed by a driver—a finding by @kenmcld.bsky.social.
An on-bike toolkit (tire levers, multitool, way to inflate replaced tube). Or (super unglamorous) a floor pump for home.
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Wouldn't all current food crop acreage in the US be needed to meet industry #SAF needs?
Doesn't including land use change in #SAF carbon calcs show them to be worse than fossil fuels?
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This is what happens when right wingers “don’t believe” in climate change.
In which cities were they walking streets?
This is content we need!
At any one time, there are 500 million empty parking spaces in the US—for 340M citizens. Avg parking space size: 153 sq ft—which adds up to a parking lot the size of Delaware + Rhode Island. Estimated annual taxpayer subsidy to free parking: $374 billion. 🧵
Here's my favourite! #KleanKanteen
"[P]edestrian activity within the Congestion Relief Zone below 60th St had risen 8.4% compared to May 2024.... All this translated into a revitalized retail landscape"
#JustAMinute
#ScienceUnderSiege: A Conversation With Dr. Peter Hotez & Dr. Michael Mann | Upcoming book event with @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social & yours truly, courtesy of the @bakerinstitute.bsky.social of @riceuniversity.bsky.social, Houston Texas Tues Sep 9 2025: www.bakerinstitute.org/event/scienc...
Electric cargo bikes are car replacers. It’s so great to see how many families can get to soccer practice this way (enabled by Minneapolis’ protected bike infrastructure).
why do so many people who are on the side of not burning down the planet insist on finding ways to hate on bikes? yeah, YOU don't have to do it when it's hot, cold, rainy, or when you've got kids & groceries to tote, but bikes are in fact still good at these things.
Almost like you were sun-touring.
Nice!
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This whole #thread! And it doesn't even mention the environmental benefits (reductions in GHG / microplastics / noise / salt use in cold climates / etc)! #CarLite
Unintentionally.
GREAT question about newly mandated EV fees! Hopefully can get to mileage + vehicle weight fees replacing gas tax! @mprnews.org @angeladavismpr.bsky.social
I started off by reading books I found in bookstores that sounded cool. Why would you ever want to do anything different? It's not sci-fi class. It's just reading. Read books. Any books. Literally any book you want to read. What a wild idea.
Trump administration considering replacing top US official at the International Energy Agency, with Republicans saying the agency "discouraged investment in fossil fuels by publishing analyses that show near-term peaks in global demand for oil and gas."💔 subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
I've gone from <1 to 5 car trips a week since flash floods forced indefinite closures of 2 greenways in my town. We'd been debating becoming a one-car family. Now we're wondering if we can afford a 3rd car. Greenways are essential transportation infrastructure. It's time to treat them that way.
My comments with @cidrap.bsky.social today www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/hhs...