On a club ride I went on last weekend one of the cyclist picks up a handful of show and says sarcastically "I’ve got your global warming right here." But as my tag line on my email says: – Global warming, increasing obesity rates, traffic congestion, dependence on foreign oil, leading causes of premature death and the economy… if only there was a common solution.
I don’t think proving global climate change is withing the scope of this blog but solutions to major issues of the day that include promoting more bicycling are. So if you don’t believe in climate change just substitute another issue, they are all interrelated. So a quote from the linked article:
"But for the past fifty years, our economy and society have been operating on the premise that “more is more” and “bigger is better”: bigger homes, bigger yards, bigger cars with bigger engines, bigger budgets, bigger institutions, and, finally, bigger energy sources. In contrast, urbanism naturally tends toward a “small is beautiful” philosophy. This then involves trade-offs: less private space but perhaps a richer public realm; less private security but perhaps a safer community; less auto mobility but more convenient transit. Compact development does mean smaller yards, fewer cars, and less private space for some. On the other hand, it can dramatically reduce everyday costs and leave more time for family and community. The question is not which is right and which is wrong or that it must be all one way or the other—urbanism works best with blends. The question is how such trade-offs fit with our emerging demographics, our desires, our needs, our economic means—and perhaps our sense of what a good life really is."
https://sf.streetsblog.org/2011/01/25/urbanism-in-the-age-of-climate-change/oldId.20110216192551601
Biking in Baltimore