Washington Republican: Bicycles cause more pollution than cars

[AgingAmerican]

The ranking Republican member on Washington state’s House Transportation Committee thinks that riding bicycles causes more pollution than driving cars, the Seattle Bike Blog reported Saturday.

State Rep. Ed Orcutt (R), pictured, wrote an email to a constituent who disagreed with his support for a new tax on the sales of bicycles, a proposal being considered as part of a larger piece of transportation legislation. Reached by the Seattle Bike Blog, he confirmed the email is real.

In his message, sent to the owner of a bicycle shop, Orcutt wrote: “If I am not mistaken, a cyclists [sic] has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride.”

Reached for comment, Orcutt told Seattle Bike Blog that “you would be giving off more CO2 if you are riding a bike than driving in a car,” although he admitted to having no evidence to back the claim.

More here

Another day, another Republican saying something stupid.

[samsingh]

1. repugs continue to show stupidity

- most of them are pro-gun too

[Downwinder]

2. And pedestrians are the worst. Look at how long it takes

them to get someplace, breathing out all of that CO2.

[Recursion]

4. Walking is probably worse from a carbon perspective than biking, in most cases

It takes about 2 miles for a car to produce as much carbon as, on average, a human does in a day, to give you a sense of the scale involved here.

[AgingAmerican]

7. There is a huge difference

Carbon from humans comes from the present carbon cycle. Carbon from gasoline is from an ancient carbon cycle.

Human respiration of CO2 does not contribute to the build up of CO2 in the atmosphere because the amount of CO2 people exhale cannot be greater than the amount of carbon they put into their bodies by eating plants,

[Recursion]

11. Before petro-based agriculture, yes

If you buy conventional foods today, though, quite a bit of the carbon there is petro.

[AgingAmerican]

13. Good point.

n/t

[HughBeaumont]

3. America: Where it's Easier to Elect a Dumb-ass Than it is to Get a Mediocre Job.

It should be a list at this point . . .

[AsahinaKimi]

5. The stupid is strong with this one..

"These are not the bikes you're looking for... they can carry about their business, move along.. move along."

[joeybee12]

6. Clearly, the cause of global warming is marathons...

The stupid, it burns!

[pnwest]

8. facepalm

Everyday I think these people have reached their zenith of stupid, and every day they prove me wrong.

He can't POSSIBLY believe that's true. But these people will say anything - literally any stupid shit they can think of - to be right.

[AgingAmerican]

9. Eventually

They will be so stupid they wont even know how to talk. This is the culmination of 30 years of living in an information bubble.

[maxsolomon]

10. Retracted today (3/4)

He was jus' funnin' - don't you libs know what humor is?

[markpkessinger]

12. The Stupid -- it hurts! n/t

[DotGone]

14. A proud member of the Idiocracy n/t

[spanone]

15. just when you think the bar can't go any lower....i'm impressed!