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News & ArtsMonday, March 4, 2013
Bikes / Enviro Lawmaker Backpedals, Apologizes for Claiming That Cyclists Pollute By Breathing
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 12:59 PM
State Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, shifted gears Monday morning, apologizing for telling a bike-shop owner last week that bicyclists create carbon pollution, simply by exhaling.“First of all, let me apologize for the carbon emissions line of an e-mail which has caused so much concern within the bicycle community. It was over the top and I admit is not one which should enter into the conversation regarding bicycles,” read Orcutt’s Monday email to Seattle Bike Blog.
But before we forgive and forget, Orcutt should have to breathe nothing but cyclists' breath for a month straight for his stupidity.
1
Actually its the opposite. Cyclists in traffic will inhale all that carbon exhaust and eventually develop lung related illnesses after cycling to work for 20-30 years.
This guy was a fool, but not that far from someone of the foolish things I hear cycling advocates say.
This guy was a fool, but not that far from someone of the foolish things I hear cycling advocates say.
2
He simply ad libbed on a stupid climate deniers' talking point according to which humans contribute to carbon build up in the atmosphere through respiration, which is blatantly false: http://skepticalscience.com/breathing-co…
At least, we now know where he gets his talking points.
At least, we now know where he gets his talking points.
3
@1 - Well, at least you are acknowledging that car pollution is bad for us. A little more effort and you'll agree that something should be done about it.
6
@Kinison: Is your assertion about cyclists and lung disease supported by any facts? Or are you making shit up like Orkutt?
7
I want a t-shirt to wear when cycling that says: MY LUNGS FILTER YOUR EXHAUST
As for Kinison's stats, Dr. Awesome, I couldn't find anything more conclusive than the confirmation that city bicyclists inhale more black soot than rural ones:
"Our data strongly suggest that personal exposure to black carbon should be considered when planning cycling routes. Whether cycling by healthy individuals is in itself associated with adverse health effects is currently being assessed in a larger ongoing study."
The study was done in London, which has notoriously sooty air. Seattle's air is relatively clean, what with coming off the ocean and the Olympics as it does for the most part. But still, cycling in traffic clearly increases your polycyclic hydrocarbon intake, considerably more than walking on the sidewalk, just a few feet away. Twice as much.
As for Kinison's stats, Dr. Awesome, I couldn't find anything more conclusive than the confirmation that city bicyclists inhale more black soot than rural ones:
"Our data strongly suggest that personal exposure to black carbon should be considered when planning cycling routes. Whether cycling by healthy individuals is in itself associated with adverse health effects is currently being assessed in a larger ongoing study."
The study was done in London, which has notoriously sooty air. Seattle's air is relatively clean, what with coming off the ocean and the Olympics as it does for the most part. But still, cycling in traffic clearly increases your polycyclic hydrocarbon intake, considerably more than walking on the sidewalk, just a few feet away. Twice as much.
8
Orcutt is a decent guy, and we might be used to sarcastically and justifiably going after his comments.... But I think it shows class that he was willing to back-pedal. Just saying.
10
@9: Conservatives, even moderate and/or possibly reasonable ones, are not funny. They just simply aren't, and they should not try to be. (Case in point, here.)
11
8, There are plenty of blithering idiots that are decent people. I just don't think it's a good idea to elect them to political office.
And no, his response wasn't "classy." It was just more word-salad. If you parse his words, you'll realize that he didn't deny them. Sure, they're "over the top," and "shouldn't be part of the conversation," but does he still thinks that they're true? Will he continue to work w/ that ontological assumption? I think he will.
And no, his response wasn't "classy." It was just more word-salad. If you parse his words, you'll realize that he didn't deny them. Sure, they're "over the top," and "shouldn't be part of the conversation," but does he still thinks that they're true? Will he continue to work w/ that ontological assumption? I think he will.
12
@6, Not at all. I think it was conducted by London School of Medicine as well as the European Respiratory Society.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-1229856…
Most of the links you find, point back to the same study.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-1229856…
Most of the links you find, point back to the same study.
13
Don't want exhaust?
Sign the petition to Build A Hydrogen Economy!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitio…
17
@16: Too late. I have friends in Germany who've discovered Orcutt via HuffPo and they've confirmed that Americans are stupid.
19
#1, I wish it was true. Then maybe the asshole bicycle nazis would all strangle, and life would be better.
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