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A dream of Russian dandelions
Andrew Leonard, Salon
Out for a bike ride in Northern California, whipping down some rural road where the cows far outnumber the cars and the only energy actively being consumed is generated by the home fries you had for breakfast, it’s easy to feel, however fleetingly, that you’ve escaped from the gas-price peak-oil climate-change rat race. The world simplifies. Head winds and hills are straightforward challenges, easy to parse, in contrast to such mysteries as to how much speculation contributes to the cost of oil, or how to calculate the net energy-efficiency of biofuels.
But then I read, in this morning’s edition of the Road Bike Rider newsletter, that WTB, a high-end bike component manufacturer, raised prices on its tires and tubes 20 percent as of Monday. Michelin is following suit, instituting its own 15 percent price hike on Sept. 1.
There is no escape.
… But not all is lost.
Enter, the “Russian” dandelion.
Did you know that during World War II, “the Soviet Union made tires for its military machine out of rubber extracted from a dandelion that grows in the mountains of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan?”
(3 July 2008)
At $100 for Tank of Gas, Some Choke on ‘Fill It’
Christopher Maag, New York Times
… For decades, the $100 barrel stood as a hypothetical outlier in doom-and-gloom conversations about future oil prices. And nobody could even imagine an American family paying $100 to fill the tank.
But the future is here. Oil passed $100 a barrel in January and now seems headed toward $150 a barrel. Gasoline prices surpassed $4 a gallon on June 8, stalled for a while, and have been rising again in recent days, setting a record Saturday.
By late spring, owners of pickups and sport utility vehicles with 30-gallon tanks, like the Cadillac Escalade ESV and Chevrolet Suburban, started paying $100 or more to fill a near-empty tank. As gas prices continue to rise – the national average stood at about $4.10 a gallon Saturday – membership in the triple-digit club is growing. Now, even not-so-gargantuan Toyota Land Cruisers and GMC Yukons can cost $100 to fill up.
… For people who love their big vehicles, the pain is acute.
Members of the Chevy Avalanche Fan Club of North America prize the Avalanche, a large sport utility vehicle, for its versatility, including a rear cab wall that slides forward for a larger pickup bed or backward for more passenger room.
(5 July 2008)
Fuel Prices Boost Cause of S. Asia’s Maligned Rickshaw
Emily Wax, Washington Post
… In [New Delhi] and the other quickly modernizing capitals of South Asia, governments have called the rickshaws backward, embarrassing symbols of the Third World.
Now, however, in a time of $7-a-gallon fuel in New Delhi and growing concerns about pollution, environmental activists and transportation experts are pushing back against rickshaw critics. And rickshaw cyclists are seizing the moment to tout the virtues of their trade.
“My rickshaw is my life. It’s very cheap for my passengers,” said Saurabh Ganguly, a 27-year-old rickshaw cyclist whose shirt was sticky with dirt and grime. He proudly observed a knot of traffic where about 50 rickshaw cyclists were jangling their bells, pressing their horns and zigzagging past lumbering buses belching plumes of black soot. “We don’t even pollute,” Ganguly said. “We should be allowed to survive.”
(28 June 2008)
Pedicabs bring leg-powered locomotion to downtown
Nanci Bompey, Citizen-Times (Asheville, North Carolina)
ASHEVILLE – Tourists and locals will have a new way to get around parts of the city when Your Chariot Awaits rolls out its fleet of pedicabs today.
Instead of walking from the Grove Arcade to Pack Square, potential customers will be able to call, e-mail, text message or hail one of the five bicycle-powered rickshaws to shuttle them around downtown Asheville, the River Arts District and the Montford neighborhood.
… Thurman hopes the three-wheeled pedicabs will fill a transportation niche in the city for both tourists and locals while providing a more environmentally friendly way to get around town.
The cabs will go where the city buses don’t and alleviate anxiety about finding a place to park, she said. They also will allow people to have a fun, unusual experience, said Ken Putnam, assistant director of transportation and engineering for the city.
(17 May 2008)
