Obviously this is NYC and the traffic can be a little congested, BUT, if you are South of 41st street during rush hour, the street traffic is actually worse then NYC because of people’s speeds. But he makes a good point, where is it safe to ride a bike?
REI is proposing a Federal E-Bike rebate program, which I support. Some have said that this is a waste but when you figure there are similar rebates for electric cars, this makes sense;
If 15% of today’s carbon-emitting car trips were made by electric bicycles (e-bikes), America’s carbon emissions would shrink by more than 11 percent.
That’s because in addition to providing safe and convenient ways to get from place to place, battery-powered e-bikes displace carbon emissions from vehicles and lower pollution levels. E-bikes are increasingly popular for people looking to commute to work, run errands, or enjoy the outdoors without needing a car. But we need to make sure more people – of all income levels – can access and enjoy this form of low-carbon transport.
The E-BIKE (Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment) Act would offer a 30 percent tax credit of up to $1500 on the purchase of new e-bikes. It’s time to build support for this exciting new bill that can make climate-friendly transport more affordable for everyone.
It has often amazed me that we don’t give tax credits to people who are trying to improve the environment but turn around and give people child tax credits (which are actually contributing to pollution). We should tax the HELL out of gasoline and turn those dollars into ways to help people commute sustainably.
And for the record, South Dakota gets over 80% of it’s electricity from renewables, so plugging in, in South Dakota is actually carbon friendly.