
Some of you know that I am a bicyclist. Look at the photo of the bike at the top of the right-hand column. The caption says CARBON TREADPRINT. Clever, isn’t it? I have posted this on four of my blogs, going back to 2011 (I think). Inspired by Earth Day, The Environmental Handbook, Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Word for World Is Forest, Fred Herbert’s Dune, Rachel Carson, and Joni Mitchell, I consciously decided never to learn to drive. It is a simple lifestyle: it is a matter of living in a town or city near mass transit routes.
And yet people cannot accept that this is a valid choice.
“I want to see you behind the wheel of that car,” a radical teacher said jovially in the dark days of my teens.
I found it exasperating that everyone thought driving was the nadir of achievement.
And, alas, the fossil-fuel burning continues. Few Americans are willing to change their life-style by driving less, or by taking public transit. In fact, it is impossible to take public transit if you live in the exurbs.
Today I clicked on an article in the Guardian with the headline: Humanity has ‘opened gates to hell’ by letting climate crisis worsen, UN secretary warns.
At a UN climate conference in New York (a “climate ambition summit”), the UN secretary Antonio Guterres asserted that “humanity has opened the gates of hell” by not dealing with climate change, the wildfires, storms, droughts, floods, and other weather events. The solution is, of course, to stop burning fossil fuels. He added, “The future of humanity is in our hands. We must turn up the tempo, turn plans into action and turn the tide.”
I am in complete agreement with him, but have concluded that there is little point in conferences. Nothing gets done. Nothing changes. And that, of course, is his point. He said that the leaders of the most polluted countries – the greatest users of fossil fuels – were not present. (N.B. I heard from a friend that Biden was not invited. Is that correct? Surely there are some American representatives there!)
But wasn’t there JUST a big environmental conference in England a few months ago? Nothing happened, as far as I know, except that environmentalists were indignant because the sponsor was invested in fossil fuels (or something equally bad) . That’s what I picked up from the press, along with a list of celebrities who attended or protested or both. (I hope something was accomplished at this world-renowned conference!)
I have vowed not to read any more of these articles.
I do take joy in bicycling, and have commuted by bike in the past. I recommend recreational biking: ride around your neighborhood or on one of the innumerable beautiful trails in the U.S. It is possible now to bicycle three seasons of the year. That is, if there’s not a wildfire or flood or…
Let’s enjoy the beautiful fall days while we have them.
Five Influential Books about Bicycling
Dervla Murphy’s Full Tilt: Iteland to India on a Bicycle. This brilliant, funny travel book inspired me to accompany my husband on a tri-state bicycle trip. Not quite to India, though.
David Byrne’s Bicycle Diaries. David Byrne, singer, musician, songwriter, and former member of the Talking Heads, has used his bicycle for transportation in New York City since the 1980s. He takes a folding bicycle on tour and has explored cities all over the world on his bike. A fascinating little book.
H. G. Wells’s The Wheels of Chance, a charming comic novel about a summer cycling holiday in 1895.
Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men on the Bummel. In this comic sequel to Three Men on a Boat, the three heroes take a cycling holiday in the Black Forest.
Tom Cuthbertson’s Anybody’s Bike Book: A Manual of Bicycle Repairs. This charming book was our bike bible when we were repair newbies. (I never “graduated” from newbie, though,) This book is witty, with comical illustrations, and, as I recall, advises you to take wine breaks if you get frustrated. I once changed a flat tire when my husband was away. I followed the directions and eventually succeeded, after many whining phone calls to my husband. . The down side: it took me 12 hours.