|
IN THIS ISSUE |
Forward This Email to a Friend!
BWC Member Specials
Top Story
Partners
Join Better World Club!
Washington Watch
TravelCool! Website of the Month
|
 |
|
Forward This Email to a Friend! |
 |
|
In The News |
Colorado Auto Shop Pitches Re-refined Oil Changes
BWC President Mitch Rofsky Weighs In
It's Certainly No Cruder Than Recycled Toilet Paper
CompleteStory |
|
|
|
BWC Member Specials |
Just a reminder: Better World Club members get a 7.5% discount off orders at Powells.com, the website of Portland's world famous independent bookseller with over 1,000,000 titles on offer.
Log in to the
member section of our website to take advantage of the discount.
- Most Recent Kicking Asphalt: Member Payola Edition, 'Just Tastes Like Water...And That's a Good Thing'
- Eco-Travel Discounts
- Eco-Lodging Discounts
- Various Member Discounts
|
|
Save Up To 13% on Auto Insurance! |
Save up to 13% on Your Insurance Premium. Click here to get a quote.
|
|
Offset Your Carbon Emissions! |
1.) Precisely
determine the carbon footprint of your air travel.
2.)
Easily and precisely offset the greenhouse gas emissions of your automobile (or offset the emissions beyond the first 2,000 miles of driving if you are a Better World Club insurance client).
|
|
Gas-Saving Tips |
The Recession's Not Over Yet!
Save Gas by Downsizing and Cutting Back on Bling
- Smaller vehicles are inherently more fuel efficient. Plus, smaller cars are now being made with more interior space and include safety features to better protect passengers in collisions with larger
vehicles. See our
archived newsletters for BWC's high mileage reviews. (See below for this month's.)
- It's fun to pimp your ride, but if your new wheels and tires are wider (or have a wider tread) than the stock set, they might decrease your fuel efficiency. Keep your stock wheels and tires available for long trips.
Please Validate Us!
Not that we're needy or anything, but we would love it if our intelligent and good-looking members could rate us on
sustainlane.com, a community-powered directory of green products and businesses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Story |
To AAA Mid-Atlantic, Bikes Mean "War!" ...On Motorists
AAA National Says They Didn't Mean It. . .
Meanwhile, DC Plans for Bike Lanes on Pennsylvania Ave Look Increasingly Like AAA's
On June 8th, the Washington DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced its new plan for the bike lanes set to open on the one mile stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the White House to the Capitol building
("the Promenade of Presidents"). Under DDOT's original plan, the leftmost traffic lanes on either side of the road were to form a wide bicycle corridor down the center of the Avenue, with bicyclists traveling in opposite directions
separated by a median, and cyclists separated from motor vehicle traffic by a buffer zone. But that was all before the "War."
In a
May 3rd press release, AAA Mid-Atlantic took a strong stance against DDOT's plan, insisting that the removal of two lanes of car traffic would lead to too much congestion in the heart of the capital to justify the opening of the bike
lanes. The release recommended that "lane closures...be approached with extreme caution to avoid excessive traffic delays and the diversion of motorists into neighborhood streets." We can't be 100% sure, but maybe it was AAA Mid-Atlantic's
fear of even further delays that caused them to recommend
the removal of speed bumps from those same neighborhoods. (Or maybe they just need to get their stories straight on neighborhood safety.)
Shortly after that press release, AAA Mid-Atlantic Managing Director of Public Affairs Lon Anderson released
his own statement complaining about the DC government's "war on motorists."
Apparently, that worried AAA's national public affairs office, which then made an attempt to distance AAA national from the statements of Mid-Atlantic by
reiterating their "share the road" message. Even so, it looks like AAA Mid-Atlantic, which did back down to pressure from national and issue a
release on bike safety, has won this first battle (even if they're the only ones who seem to think they're fighting a war).
DDOT's new plan has restored the left lanes of Pennsylvania Avenue to motorists, and
bike lanes will be in the median. As a result, the bike lanes will be significantly narrowed in some places, with no physical barrier between cyclists riding in opposite directions. And in others places, there will no longer be a
buffer between cyclists and motor vehicle traffic. Strange, considering that DDOT's principal justification for amending its plan was
its concern for cyclists' safety, which was echoed by AAA spokespeople. (Apparently a wide bike lane would look too much like any other lane for a motorist not to just drive into it.) What's more, because bike lanes will be in the
median, it's likely that cyclists will now come into contact with pedestrians waiting for crossing signals in the safe zones at the center of the road.
DDOT denies having given in to pressure from AAA -- or anyone else, but its readiness to return Pennsylvania Avenue's contested left lanes to DC's motorists in the name of safety seems a little too conveniently in line with the position
espoused by AAA in its yellow press.
Ironically, the results of the same poll used by AAA Mid-Atlantic to justify its claim of bike lanes drawing the "ire of motorists" give good reason to think that expanded bike lanes would in fact lessen congestion. From AAA Mid-Atlantic's
initial press release: "20 percent of surveyed AAA members in the District said the changes would compel them to become regular bicycle commuters." Considering that not nearly that percentage of DC commuters currently travel by bike,
that's a potentially huge number of people getting out of their cars and onto their bikes.
Complete Story
Read Last Issue's Top Story:
-
You Like Us...You Really Like Us!'
|
|
|
Partners |
Intex Solutions
Sustainable Commercial Carpet and Textile Care
Intex Solutions is a leading company in the care of commercial carpets and other interior finishes. Intex is based in Los Angeles and has served the corporate and retail sectors for over 30 years, maximizing
the appearance and life of interior surfaces while providing care in an environmentally responsible manner.
Intex seeks to set a standard for small businesses in environmentally responsible practices. Their proprietary EcoTex system achieves superior cleaning quality and conserves valuable water resources while protecting human health and the
environment. Its primary cleaning agent, EcoTex H, has already earned the cleaning industry's highest environmental credential, the Green Seal Certification. What's more, Intex cleans CO
2
OL by offsetting any climate-changing gas released by its normal energy usage during cleaning with a donation to the
Carbon Fund.
Complete Story
Do you need
fleet roadside assistance coverage? Learn more about our fleet program at our
fleet roadside assistance page. |
|
|
|
|
Join Better World Club! |
|
|
Share This on Twitter and Facebook |  |
|
|
|
Washington Watch |
Corrections - Last Washington Watch:
Hey, If You're Going to Use That Drill, How About Some Novocaine?
In the April 20th issue of Kicking Asphalt, we published a piece by former BWC employee and Greenpeace organizer Michael Schultz defending President Obama's decision to increase drilling off the
U.S. Coast.
The title of the article read, "Hey, If You're Going to Use That Drill, How About Some Novocaine? Or Is Obama's Policy One That An Environmentalist Can Love?"
Of course, this preceded the British Petroleum oil spill that is now a major crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.
The editors of Kicking Asphalt wish to inform our readers that the words "Only A Crazy" were inadvertently left out of the headline before the word "Environmentalist." The headline should have read: "Or is Obama's Policy One That
Only A Crazy Environmentalist Can Love."
. . .the word "Masochistic" might also have been accidentally dropped.
We apologize for any confusion.
Go to article.
Update from Michael Shultz, former Greenpeace employee
Obviously, the oil spill in the gulf changed my opinions a bit. If an opinion isn't subject to change when circumstances warrant, then it's not a very well thought-out opinion. This was the first major
offshore oil problem in the US since 1969. But the effects could be devastating enough to change our public perception and open the way to new solutions to our energy problems.
CompleteStory |
|
|
|
TravelCool! Website of the Month |
Local Volcano Acting Up?
Find Out if That Ash Cloud Will Affect Your Flight Before You Head to the Airport
Eyjafjallajokull may not be in your neck of the woods, but who's to say when the long dormant volcano in your (proverbial) backyard will start spewing huge plumes of ash into the sky disrupting flight schedules across
your entire side of the continent? At least you needn't worry about wasting time waiting at the airport for a delayed or canceled flight.
FlightArrivals.com is a comprehensive, independent source of arrival and departure information. The site makes flight statuses searchable by flight number, airport, or by flights between two airports -- which makes more sense at the
site than it sounds like it should. FlightArrivals.com also provides airport maps and information on routes, airlines, and seating, all available through a short series of clicks.
Complete Story.
If You Liked That Site...
Be sure to take a peek at our
'Bodacious Page of Travel Links and Resources.' |
|
|
|
The Little Engine That Very Nearly Almost
Could
The 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt