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Personal conservation habits will never be enough

I'm not sure if NYT's Elisabeth Bumiller intended to write a piece of sly satire with this story on Bush's conservation efforts, but it's brilliant nonetheless.

You may recall that last week Bush called on Americans to conserve energy by driving less, turning off the lights, etc. He instructed federal gov't agencies to "cut back on nonessential travel and also encouraged them to carpool, telecommute and use public transportation."

The ironies here are rich and multifarious, but let us first quote at length from Bumiller's piece, which is just too delicious:

Meanwhile, members of the administration were not especially responsive last week to questions about their personal conservation strategies.

When asked by e-mail what he was doing to conserve, Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, hit "reply" and asked, "What are you doing to conserve?"

Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, said that she was avoiding nonessential travel because "I'm working so much that I don't have time to go anywhere personally."

Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman's spokesman did not say what Mr. Bodman was doing personally, although he did say that Mr. Bodman had asked employees to actually read the president's conservation directive.

Back at the White House, it was unclear how many people, if any, had turned in their parking passes for Metro rides. But there was one incentive: "You can get it back - it's like squatters' rights," said Trent Duffy, the deputy White House press secretary. "You don't have to give up parking permanently."

I find Mr. Bodman's efforts particularly heroic. Getting low-level gov't employees to actually read a memo from the boss!

But on a more serious and wonky note:

The U.K. is trying a huge toll-road pilot project

Here's something definitely worth watching: The UK is considering a massive pilot project to make drivers pay to use the roads. And not just on a few select roads -- the system would effectively turn every street and highway in Great Britain into a toll road. (Here's a link -- but the article is subscription only. Sorry.)

Tolls would vary based on the kind of road, the number of miles driven, and the time of day; it would cost more to use the most congested roads during rush hour, say, than an uncongested road in the middle of the night. This sort of system -- sometimes called "value pricing" -- is a much better bargain than it seems at first blush. It simultaneously cuts congestion, saves fuel, reduces accident risks, and, perhaps most importantly, relieves some of the pressure to build new roads -- an expense that only seems to grow more costly with time.

As a side benefit, this sort of system would make it far easier for insurance companies to offer Pay As You Drive car insurance. That's a big benefit to people who don't drive much -- since they drive less, they'll pay less, and will stop subsidizing people who rack up both big mileage and big accident risks.

The basic technology underpinning value pricing isn't far-fetched at all -- in fact, mobile Global Positioning Systems are already available as an option for new cars, as well as in some rentals, and their cost will only go down over time. The Puget Sound Regional Council has experimented for years with a small-scale value pricing scheme. That said, there are still all sorts of potential technical kinks to be worked out before the system can be adopted more widely -- which makes a big UK pilot project all the more valuable.

NYC cops crack down on bike event; media misunderstands it

Critical Mass, the monthly parade/protest/ride/celebration/cycling phenomenon has for years been billed as "bicycling's defiant celebration," but recently in NYC, it's been getting more defiant and less celebratory.

Ever since last year's truly huge Critical Mass ride during the Republican National Convention -- which attracted thousands and thousands of cyclists and worldwide media attention -- snarled traffic and resulted in 250 arrests and scores of bicycle seizures, NYC cops have been increasingly arrest-happy at NYC Critical Mass events, throwing over 500 cyclists in the slammer in just one year.

At issue (aside from the flaws of the whole government apparatus and its endemic biases, of course) are permits. Critical Mass, being essentially a spontaneous (though roughly scheduled) event, is also simply a bunch of people on bikes riding around at the same time. The cops still insist it requires a permit. No permit results in arrests and scads of no-fun bike seizures.

As the Village Voice recently reported:

Assistant Chief Bruce H. Smolka, head of NYPD's South Manhattan Borough Command, has declared in court that he regards seven cyclists or more as a 'procession,' requiring a special permit.

So watch out, road racers: you and six friends make a ride; you and seven friends are going to need a permit.

Ag subsidies

I've long thought that massive U.S. agricultural subsidies are a disaster -- environmentally, economically, socially, [your adverb here].

Over on the Environmental Economics blog, an expert (Prof. Bruce Gardner) discusses the issue in a somewhat more nuanced way, but doesn't say anything to dissuade me.

Alfredo Quarto, head of Mangrove Action Project, answers questions

Alfredo Quarto. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I am executive director and cofounder of the Mangrove Action Project. What does your organization do? MAP is dedicated to reversing the degradation of mangrove-forest ecosystems worldwide. We promote the rights of local coastal peoples, including fishers and farmers, and encourage community-based, sustainable management of coastal […]

Smells like pimply teen spirit

I thought this Hummer-branded laptop was absurd. But apparently that was just the tip of the iceberg.

See, e.g., Hummer Stuff: the complete catalog for the Hummer lifestyle, and unambigous proof of the impending end-of-days. If you want, you can even smell like a Hummer. I hear it's like catnip for the ladies. Gotta get me some before that seventh seal opens...

We Like Bike

Gas prices push U.S. bike sales to near-historic peak Glory be: More bicycles than cars have been sold in the U.S. in the past 12 months. That’s about 19 million bicycles — nearing the 20 million sales peak during the early 1970s oil embargo — and roughly $5 billion to $6 billion in business, according […]

Win, Lose, or Crawfish

New Orleans-area fish, shrimp, crab are OK to eat; oysters, not so much Though few folks are there to eat it, much of the seafood from Lake Pontchartrain next to New Orleans seems safe for consumption, say state environmental officials. About 80 percent of the city’s sewage-tainted floodwaters have been pumped into the lake, but […]

America’s Coast Wanted

House bill would open coasts, other areas to drilling Recent hurricane-related disruptions to Gulf Coast oil infrastructure may get the oil industry something it’s been after for years: a chance to drill off the U.S. coasts. Legislation sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) and approved last week by the House Resources Committee he chairs would […]

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