Comments on: Don’t Blame BP. Blame me. http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/ cargo bikes, family bikes, electric bikes and complete streets Fri, 17 May 2013 12:53:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Bike Forth » Blog Archive » I Flooded the Mississippi http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-268 Bike Forth » Blog Archive » I Flooded the Mississippi Sat, 21 May 2011 16:57:28 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-268 [...] though the evidence for that is not so clear. But certainly without a doubt (as I confessed in a previous post) I share with BP responsibility for the gulf oil spill last year. How did I manage to cause such [...]

]]> By: admin http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-267 admin Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:53:45 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-267 The bumper sticker is one of the major forms of left-leaning political expression in Ithaca. Typically the vehicle for this expression is a smoke-belching Subaru or Volvo. Dont’ get me wrong. I’m glad Ithaca has a lot of environmentalists. But I think those well-meaning environmentalists are actually slowing the pace of change. I imagine environmentalists thinking along the lines of “Well I watch environmental TV shows and I listen to environmental radio shows and I read environmental books so I must be doing something to help the environment. (Oh yeah and I recycle too.)” Thus having sated their environmental urges, they fail to make any actual changes to their lives that would help the environment.

]]> By: Mr colostomy http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-266 Mr colostomy Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:39:46 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-266 They make green bumper stickers for cars?

]]> By: Elise Giddings http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-265 Elise Giddings Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:24:11 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-265 There are some excellent posts on Streetsblog along these lines
http://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/05/03/commentary-keep-drilling-stop-driving-use-oil-wisely/
and
http://streetsblog.net/2010/06/18/better-than-boycotting-bp-getting-out-of-the-car/

]]> By: Geonz http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-264 Geonz Fri, 28 May 2010 19:59:33 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-264 The facebook “stop offshore drilling now!” and the like pages include so many “sigh, but we will all drive today anyway.”
I’m looking for a way to inpsire some mass inspiration… ya know, that “team spirit” thing. If people could boycott the busses in Montgomery… that wasn’t easy, either.

]]> By: olive-oil http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-263 olive-oil Thu, 27 May 2010 17:24:50 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-263 Who said anything about living=driving. If you live in a modern built house, eat, buy clothes, use a computer, (list goes on and on), you are making a demand on natural resources. That’s what I meant by “There is demand for all sorts of resources”.

]]> By: admin http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-262 admin Thu, 27 May 2010 15:17:58 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-262 It’s funny how people equate driving with living.

I drive a petroleum-powered vehicle. Like BP I pollute. I pollute all the time. What are you going to do about it?

I find it astonishing that environmentalists and the mainstream media aren’t making a connection between the spill and the energy use of our society, and instead are focusing on spanking BP. I’m not saying BP isn’t guilty of something. Only that I’m more guilty than they are. Spank me too. Encourage me to not use my car so much. Please.

I look at the photo accompanying this post and I don’t think “BP did that!” I think “I am partially responsible for that devastation.” Is there anyone out there who is brave enough to admit they feel the same way? Conversely, is there anyone out there who can honestly say “I am not partially responsible for that devastation”?

Yesterday I did finally hear someone on NPR criticize Obama for not capitalizing on the spill to help push the energy bill. That’s progress I guess.

(BTW I edited this post again to make it less pretentious and then I sugar-coated it with a bit of humor. Sheesh! People take this stuff seriously! I’m actually not an environmentalist, I just like to bike without a lot of cars getting in my way. I hope this post will guilt-trip some people into leaving their cars at home. :-) )

]]> By: olive-oil http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-261 olive-oil Thu, 27 May 2010 14:58:25 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-261 Yes, we should all stop living and desiring and then the planet will be fine. BP has to take a large portion of the blame. There is demand for all sorts of resources but that does not give corporations the right to pollute.

]]> By: admin http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-260 admin Tue, 25 May 2010 17:47:12 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-260 I edited this post to make it less confrontational.

]]> By: Wolfy http://bikes-as-transportation.com/dont-blame-bp-blame-me/#comment-259 Wolfy Tue, 25 May 2010 15:10:49 +0000 http://bikeforth.org/?p=1445#comment-259 Agreed. The flip side of your analysis is the realization that oil spills, no matter who is at actual fault, are a cost of owning and operating a gas/diesel vehicle. You can do what you can to minimize your use, but the cost will still be there.

Now do i think we can live without it? No way. So we have to accept the cost. And that cost should be a part of the equation every time we estimate the risk and rewards of driving.

-M

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