Got a lightbulb joke? Send it in to Sierra Club, which today kicked off its new campaign, Lightbulbs to Leadership. The goal: to "remind Americans that it takes more than changing lightbulbs to fix global warming –- it takes changing the will of our leaders." Here's the front page joke on the Lightbulbs to Leadership site right now:
Q. How many conservatives does it take to change a lightbulb? A. None. They liked the old one so much that nothing could compare to it.
The campaign's trying to spread the message with short animated parodies, all themed around lightbulb jokes.
Lightbulbs to Leadership won't be all sarcastic doom and gloom; the campaign will also highlight the economic benefits of moving toward a Clean Energy Economy. So send in your best joke -- and push our leaders to do more than just change their lightbulbs.
(Alex Thompson looks goofy with his tan arms and white hands . . . when will cycling manufacturers make "tan through" gloves?)
I've written about the most basic bike activism -- riding your bike in LA. I wrote about extending that to talking to friends and family, and taking that a step further to volunteer for a bike organization. What's left? A lot. There are many aspects of L.A.'s car culture that cyclists need to adjust in order for LA to be a bike friendly city. Right now there simply aren't enough people doing enough things.
So what can you do? The third way to bike activism is to get creative. You can create an organization, or become a lone wolf agitator. You could organize a group ride, pull off a media stunt, or become a regular at public meetings. You could document biking through writing, blogging, the ibikeu Wiki, film or photograph. You can take a leadership role in an existing bike organization. There are many needs, and even more approaches.
(Bike activists argue at the L.A. Bicycle Master Plan update meeting in West L.A. Photo by Franz Ellers, with Alex's camera!)
What you will do, if you get creative with activism, is fail. I know this because I personally have failed more often than I have succeeded at bike activism. I failed publicly on a joint project called Roll With It. I failed on my first project, Critical Commute, which I embarked on with almost no knowledge of existing bike activism and culture. I failed in trying to organize UCLA cyclists to lobby for a stronger UCLA Bicycle Master Plan. Ask me in private and I'll share my more recent failures. The point is to keep trying, and learn from your mistakes. It's OK to fail because, typically, when you succeed, your success will snowball and catalyze more change than you could have anticipated.
I think that documenting bike culture and bike activism is an area where more creative effort is needed. It's also an area in which one can have tremendous impact. Recently, Emerald City reader Nolen Clark recommended I watch "Return of the Scorcher," an influential movie from the '90s about a resurgence in cycling. As I watched it I felt as if the ideas it presented were useful, but unoriginal and commonplace. Then it hit me -- this movie has been watched by almost every bike activist in the United States who has operated in the last decade. It was so influential that everyone learned the ideas within it, making the ideas ubiquitous, and therefore the movie eventually made itself obsolete. It seems basic to me because it is part of today's base of knowledge; it has become an element of the foundation of knowledge from which bike activists operate. That is powerful.
(Two cyclists ride on the 405 during a traffic jam, a controversial instance of bike activism. Photo by Alex Thompson)
More recently a group called Crimanimal Mass mixed a creative ride idea with careful documentation to make a powerful statement about Los Angeles car culture. 25 cyclists (including me!), along with 3 rollerbladers, took to the 10 freeway, heading east onto the interchange to the 405 North, and eventually exiting onto Santa Monica Blvd. In the midst of the rush hour parking lots we call "freeways," I felt safe riding, since vehicle speeds were below eight mph. Organizers documented the ride using multiple video cameras and carefully crafted the footage for viewing on YouTube and Vimeo. The footage was picked up by numerous bloggers, and hundreds of thousands of people viewed the videos and read the articles.
Now, you might exclaim "what positive impact can breaking the law and riding where you don't belong possibly have?" "People are going to be put off by your wanton disregard for the law," you could argue. Many were, but the footage of cyclists passing cars stopped in bumper to bumper traffic on the gargantuan 405 raised interesting questions. Why is it that our transportation infrastructure is so broken that it doesn't function when it is most needed, at rush hour? Why is it that cyclists are better able to make use of a system designed for cars? Cyclists participating in the (second) Freeway Traffic Jam Ride succeeded in raising those questions in an intriguing way, a way not easily dismissed. They catalyzed conversations between citizens about highway infrastructure and cycling. By starting those conversations, they don't just help cyclists, but they help everyone who is stuck in traffic. It was a unique and creative instance of effective activism.
(Bikes and trees go together, a creative post-Freeway Ride use of trees. Photo by Alex Thompson)
Crimanimal Mass would have been far less effective had they received less media attention. That's the risk with more creative activism: there's no guaranteed payoff. However, the upside is that you can have impacts that conventional activism can only dream about. No mass e-mail by an established advocacy organization could have a similar impact as the Freeway Ride videos or Return of the Scorcher. This is true of other forms -- if you start a new organization there is a chance it will fail, but if it grows, then you have massive success. If you blog, there is a chance you will have trouble reaching new readers, but if you succeed you have created a powerful new voice for cyclists. These are higher-risk forms of activism, but they carry with them a chance of an avalanche of benefits for cyclists.
Next week I'll write about . . . I don't know what I'll write about. Perhaps I will write more about other forms of activism. What would you like to know about cycling in L.A.?
>> Up to 24,000 Californians die from fine particulate pollution each year, according to state researchers. The revised figures are based on a review of new research across the nation about the hazards posed by microscopic particles, which sink deep into the lungs. "More measures will be needed, air board officials said, including eventually lowering the maximum permissible levels of soot statewide."
>> A Senate panel overturned the U.S. EPA's decision against California's bid to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. "In December, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson turned down California's request for a Clean Air Act waiver that would have allowed the state to require that automakers cut global warming emissions by 30% in new cars and light trucks by 2016. Boxer's bill would deem the waiver approved."
>> Polluting paints are getting phased out from SoCal. "Starting July 1, all flat paints made, sold and used within Orange and major portions of San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties must have 50 grams or less of volatile organic compounds per liter."
[This article is the second in a three-part series on ways individuals can work to improve conditions for cyclists and encourage cycling. That's exactly the goal of bike activism, so in essence, this is a three-part series about ways to engage in bike activism. Read the first post.]
Two weeks ago I wrote about biking as the most essential act of bike activism, and talking to others about cycling as the natural followup. After you wear out your welcome evangelizing biking to your friends and family (or convert them all), one route to expanding your activism is to volunteer for an organization.
Volunteering is simple, right? You just go to the organization you choose to volunteer for, say "Here I am," and they give you a stack of envelopes to lick. I disagree. Volunteering is a complex and often creative act. There are a variety of factors to consider in choosing for whom you volunteer, and what activities you volunteer to do.
In choosing where to volunteer, you should think about what forms of activism are the most effective for cycling. You might choose a different organization to volunteer for if you believe direct outreach to be more important than advocacy. You are also tasked with evaluating whether the organization you choose is effectively utilizing your effort.
Most importantly, you need to consider what you would like to do. We volunteer our free time and excess energy, so it is important that whatever you choose to do as a volunteer is rewarding. If not, you won't volunteer for very long, and that's no good for anyone. How much energy and time would you like to devote? If you over-commit you won't be very effective, and if you volunteer for a high-energy task when you're tired, you won't be of much help to the organization. Conversely, if you have a lot of energy to volunteer, and you get stuck licking envelopes, you'll be bored to death.
In L.A., I know of five organizations where you can volunteer to help cyclists: CICLE, the three bike repair collectives - the Bike Oven, the Bicycle Kitchen, and the Bikerowave - and the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition.
C.I.C.L.E., a.k.a. Cyclists Inciting Change Through Live Exchange, recently pulled off a spectacular event series, Bike Week Pasadena, culminating in an all-day Urban Bicycle Commuter Expo. The Expo confirmed that CICLE has the ability and opportunity to delegate to volunteers, as well as access to local government to leverage volunteer efforts. Bike Week Pasadena demonstrated an ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. If you volunteer for CICLE you can be sure that your efforts will be fully utilized.
(Ashira Siegel staffing a booth at the Urban Bicycle Commuter Expo, volunteers for the Bicycle Film Festival.)
CICLE is a multi-faceted organization, so there's more than one way to contribute. They have a local outreach component, which focuses on events like Bike Week Pasadena as a means to reach demographics not always targeted by bike activists. Their news and views is the best aggregation of bike news (mixed with some original content) available, and has international reach. CICLE also produces a variety of beautiful literature to hand out to people interested in cycling.
If you're interested in volunteering, e-mail info@cicle.org.
Bike Repair Collectives -- the Bike Oven, Bikerowave, and the Bicycle Kitchen -- are not-for-profit bike shops that teach cyclists how to fix their bicycles. All three of these organizations have diverse needs. They need mechanics who will do the basic work of teaching customers bicycle repair. They also need people to help with the organizations' administrative functions: promotion, finances, records, policy, scheduling, etc.
Volunteering as a mechanic for a bike repair collective is very rewarding. Firstly, the organizations will train you in bicycle repair, so no prior bike repair experience is required, and you'll end up with expertise in bike repair. Teaching others how to fix their bikes, you are able to immediately witness the impact you've made in the community. You will be constantly sending customers out the door with newly functioning bikes and an education in bicycle repair. When someone approaches you months later whom you don't recognize, and thanks you for guiding them through a repair, it's a good feeling.
(Eric Weinstein, at the Urban Bicycle Commuter Expo, volunteers for the Bikerowave.)
Volunteering on the administrative side is a chance to get your feet wet steering a dynamic volunteer organization. With the Bicycle Kitchen, you have an opportunity to be part of an organization that is having tremendous impact on the community. With Bikerowave and the Bike Oven you have extremely young organizations that are just starting to structure themselves. Both the Bike Oven and Bikerowave have more administrative work to be done than they have workers, so you can have immediate impact by taking care of a task that needs doing.
I suggest, if volunteering at a bike repair collective interests you, volunteering at the one closest to you. Since they are an unusual form of organization, it might be a good idea to go visit in person to get a sense for how they function, before firing off an e-mail offering your help.
The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is the oldest bike advocacy organization in L.A., founded in 1998. They have a variety of needs for volunteers, mostly centered around fundraisers and their bi-monthly socials or upcoming River Ride. You can find out more by visiting the volunteering section of their website.
(Bikes valet-parked at the Urban Bicycle Commuter Expo.)
Besides these five orgs, one other opportunity is the upcoming Bicycle Film Festival. Last year's festival was spectacular, and with the amazing show they put on, there must be a huge operation behind the curtains. E-mail volunteer@bicyclefilmfestival.com to pitch in for the Bicycle Film Festival when it is in L.A., July 16-19.
That's about it. A parting suggestion: when you volunteer for an organization, apply the same degree of professionalism you do to your life or career. When I was a volunteer manager of volunteers it was frustrating when people did not take it seriously. When you volunteer there are people who will be relying on you, so don't let them down. As always, remember: have fun!
Next week I'll write about more unconventional ways to go about activism (or arguably, just ways that aren't volunteering.)
>> For the second time this year, Westside "Criminal Mass" bicyclists took to the 10 and 405 highways last Friday to protest things -- pollution, according to NBC, which aired some of the footage. (via LAist)
>> Will the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee get restructured and organized? Yes, if a motion (PDF) coming before the City Council Planning & Land Use (PLUM) Committee today gets passed. Cyclists have been criticizing the BAC for 64.9% attendance record and lack of action: "During ’07, the BAC took action 10 times. 6 of those actions were to approve minutes and 4 times the Committee voted to send a letter although there is no evidence that any letters were ever sent."
>> Best place to get a used bike: Coco's Variety in Silver Lake, according to Sean Bonner of LA Metblogs. "You can pick up a solid bike in fantastic condition often for less than a brand new piece of crap at Target will cost you, and it’ll last a lot longer too."
>> Plan to bike to Dodger Stadium? The sole bike rack's in Lot P -- though not even the parking attendants seem to know of its existence. Damien Newton offers photographic guidance -- and a lot of constructive criticism for the stadium -- in Streetsblog LA.
>> Organic farming mitigates climate change, says Timothy LaSalle of the Rodale Institute, a leading organic-farming research and advocacy organization. "Synthetic fertilizer and oil-based pesticides release carbon dioxide into the air. But the organic approach, which is truly regenerative agriculture, sequesters carbon: It takes carbon out of the air and puts it back in the soil."
>> The U.S. EPA needs to regulate carbon monoxide, rules a judge. The EPA was told it needs to regulate carbon dioxide too -- but the agency appears set on shirking that responsibility until the end of the Bush administration.
Metro’s plan to convert HOV (high-occupancy vehicle, a.k.a. carpool) lanes to HOT (high-occupancy toll) lanes on portions of Interstates 10 and 210 (variable toll lanes depending on the number of people in the vehicle and time of day) has become controversial. In fact, it's the most controversial transportation project since, well, since legislation was debated in the legislature a couple of weeks ago that would allow L.A. County voters to decide whether or not to place a climate change fee on either gasoline or registration of low-efficiency vehicles.
The most common arguments used against the HOT lane proposal can be broken down into three different categories, all discussed in some detail in my previous Emerald City columns. But for those just joining the congestion pricing debate, here's why these anti-HOT lane arguments don’t hold water. (If you want to read some arguments against congestion pricing, here are two pieces from Pasadena Weekly and the Los Angeles Times.)
The most compelling argument against HOT lanes is that it’s not fair to take away the benefit of a free commute with little to no congestion from people that are trying to do the right thing by joining or starting a carpool. However, we don’t yet know how the pricing structure on the HOT lanes will be structured. Metro hasn’t announced a fee schedule, so defenders of carpoolers could be worrying themselves for nothing.
Once the schedule's nailed down, it very well could be that cars with more than one passenger will be paying a very reduced rate and cars with three or more people driving free. It could also be that cars with two or more passengers will be able to access the HOT lane in non-peak hour periods for free, but have to pay a small fee during peak hours. The truth is, carpoolers probably won’t be seeing much, if any, of a change in the cost of their commute.
The most popular argument against HOT lanes is the claim that congestion pricing is nothing more than class warfare. Writers plead with their readers to think of the impact toll lanes, instead of HOV lanes, will have on the poor. I’m not saying that no poor people use the toll lanes on the 10 and 210 but for the most part, this argument is a red herring.
If people really want to help the poor have a better commute, they’ll call for more funding for better transit service. I don’t think a lot of the working poor are commuting to work in the HOV lanes on the 10, but for those who do, wouldn’t it be better to provide more bus and rail options so that people of lesser means had the option to commute to their job in a more cost-effective way than owning a car and paying for gas and insurance every month?
Also, instead of pompously assuming that we in the typing class know what’s best for “the poor” why don’t we actually ask them what they think? When someone does, the result is that people of all income levels support HOT lanes once they’re already in place.
My favorite argument against congestion pricing is, “they aren’t called FREEways for nothing.” Didya see what they did there, emphasized the word free and all...
There’s two snarky responses to this. First, the roads being considered for HOT lanes aren’t called freeways at all. They’re called Interstates. Second, the origin of the word freeway has nothing to do with whether or not there is a toll on the road. It has to do with access to the road being limited to entrance and exit ramps.
Of course, nobody is really arguing over the definition of the word “freeway.” What they’re trying to do is use the first part of the word to make their point these roads were built with tax dollars and thus drivers (taxpayers) should be allowed to drive on them without paying an additional fee of any sort.
Let’s ignore for a second the added benefits to commuters that will be caused by increased transit and let’s ignore that the “cost” of the car culture that is caused in large parts by our freeway system far exceeds any gas tax.
In modern times, our transportation dollars are stretched thin. Funds generated from the existing gas taxes aren’t enough to build and maintain the transportation network, so if drivers aren’t willing to pay more, then the network will collapse. Remember, under congestion pricing, the funds generated will go back into the transportation projects to the corridors from where the funds came. In other words, the corridors that see congestion tolls will also be the ones that see increased transit capacity and better maintained highways. From the initial federal grant Metro has earned, we’ve already seen funds dedicated to buying 60 high-capacity buses and better Metrolink service.
In the end, one of the costs of living in Los Angeles is that there will be congestion on the roads, highways and interstates. There is no magic way to make congestion go away; all governments can do is offer options for people who choose to live and travel here. Congestion pricing, assuming the money goes into funding a better transit system, does just that.
>> The House aims to go carbon neutral with a green Capitol program, created by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). The initiative has brought everything from organic food to biodegradable flatware to energy-saving motion-detector lights to the House.
>> What a good carbon policy needs: simplicity, political buy-in and efficiency in reductions. Pick two of the above, says Grist's David Roberts, in a 3-parter (one, two, three) analyzing the different policies, none of which contain all three desirable attributes. He concludes he prefers the cap-and-dividend plan as proposed by Peter Barnes, whose reader-friendly booklet on the topic I've discussed previously.
(Curmudgeonly L.A. cyclist Alex Thompson's rants cause the conflict-adverse discomfort, but he cares a whole lot.)
Between 1996 and 2008, the city of Los Angeles added 5 miles of bike paths or lanes each year. That's an astronomical success!
No, that's a complete failure. The city of Los Angeles encompasses 469 square miles. Adding 5 miles of bike lanes per year corresponds to adding 56 feet per square mile each year. 56 feet. That's the width of a small 7-11 parking lot. Ride your bike for 2 seconds, and that's how much farther you can expect to be able to ride on bike lanes in your neighborhood next year. You can expect a complete network of bikeways in about 100 years. City of L.A., EPIC FAIL.
There isn't just failure on cycling infrastructure. There's failure on all cycling issues. The Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee, which advises the City Council on cycling issues, can't find a steady meeting location. The committee president, appointed two decades ago by then-Mayor Bradley, still fails to follow basic rules of order or treat the public with courtesy. Councilman Bill Rosendahl is indulging residents of Mar Vista who are convinced bike paths cause crime, rather than insisting on better law enforcement.
Worst of all is the institutionalized bias against cyclists at the L.A. Department of Transportation (LADOT). LADOT bicycle staff spend most of their time explaining to bike activists, "here's why you can't have what you want." In order to update the L.A. Bike Master Plan, the LADOT and Planning department scheduled four meetings for community input. That's about one meeting per million people. Portland had one meeting per 12,000 residents to update their bicycle master plan. It gets better, if you visit LADOT's Bicycle Services website and follow the link to "planned bikeways" it sends you to this map:
This map is from 1996!!! I was still a virgin. "LADOT, planning to make a difference since 1996."
The only reasonable way to interpret the city's inaction is as a collective "Go **** Yourself" to cyclists. Punk rock til the end, cyclists irreverently flipped this, and interpreted it as "Do It Yourself!" And so a large segment of cyclists have found new and innovative ways to make progress without the cooperation of local government. Indeed, when the Bike Kitchen's budget purportedly surpassed the LACBC's, it was a quiet signal that doing it OURSELVES is the way to go. Does that sound angry? That's an echo of a whisper of the frustration that exists throughout the cycling community.
So we've been doing it for ourselves. Outreach?Midnight Ridazz has developed it's own brand of outreach: F.U.N.! Fun rides through the city -- a nightlife that revolves around biking -- is the unexpected form that cycling outreach takes in L.A. Most Ridazz prefer not to describe their activities as activism, it's just what they do for fun. Whatever it is, it's fun and effective. Thousands have been inspired to bike by these epic displays of F!U!N!
Cyclist education? The bike repair collectives -- the Bike Kitchen, Bike Oven, and Bikerowave -- do more to educate cyclists than any other L.A. org, governmental or not. These entirely volunteer organizations mobilize over a hundred volunteers weekly to teach cyclists how to fix their bicycles on a not-for-profit basis. Informal education on other topics takes place here as well. Step into the Bike Oven and mention a recent problem with a motorist and you'll likely hear several similar stories, and learn a couple new coping strategies. To a certain extent this happens on Midnight Ridazz rides too; I learned a lot of the tricks that keep me safe talking with other riders at group rides. There might even be a motorist education effort on the way, and not from the Metro, but from cyclists.
Bike infrastructure? At Semiotics of the Ride, activists are developing a signage system to turn 4th St. in Hancock Park into a bicycle boulevard. Is the city supportive? As far as I know, they're not. These activists lobbied hard, to no avail, to get cycling improvements on 4th St. This DIY effort is a reaction to unassailable status quo that persists within city departments. So, now we do our own infrastructure.
There are a few people in the city, or other local governments, that get it. The Santa Monica Planning Department has shown not only a progressive attitude toward cycling, but a remarkable willingness to open their planning process to the public. Lynne Goldsmith of Metro is doing good work to connect cyclists and bus operators to try to prevent conflicts. The city of Pasadena & CICLE successfully worked together to produce Bike Week Pasadena last year. They did so well that the 2nd Annual Bike Week Pasadena takes place in two weeks. Surprisingly, one of the best allies of cyclists is the LAPD. LAPD treats social bike riders with an open mind, allowing big group rides to continue if the ride is safe and moves along quickly. As well, anecdotal evidence suggests that officers in the LAPD are far better educated in the rights and needs of cyclists than in other jurisdictions.
There are people in local government who do right by cyclists, they're just the rare exception to a daunting rule. News that the L.A. bike culture is a fully DIY culture should resonate ominously within deaf ears at City Hall. 100% independent of city support, a growing constituency of cyclists can now bring uncompromising political will to bear on city officials.
(Next week I'll summarize some ways you can get involved in bike activism.)
Although AB 2058 is weaker, it does allow for a per-bag fee if voluntary targets are not met. If a store fails to decrease plastic bag use by 70% by July 1, 2012, a 15 cents per bag fee would kick in.
And that fee will likely go up! According to Jessica Belsky at Heal the Bay, Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), who authored AB2058, has agreed to revise the legislation to up the fee to 25 cents per bag, and to take out language that would preempt local governments from placing their own fees on plastic bags.
AB2058's now been referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. If the bill makes it through that committee, it will then go to the Assembly floor.
As a teenager, Siel sped past Paramount Studios on the 10 Metro bus to get to Fairfax High School. Now she cuts through the concrete jungle of Los Angeles on her pink Townie bike to shop at local farmers' markets and socialize in pre-loved Prada heels. A contributing editor to BlogHer, Siel also keeps a personal blog, green LA girl. Send your burning green questions to greenlagirl@gmail.com.
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