Support the country even if you can't support our President

To be fair, television and radio pundits are supposed to rile up at least a few dissenting views by making outrageous claims or aligning against various political leaders. But in recent months it's become more hostile, ignorant and unnecessarily divisive against more than just a President, but against our country.

Late last night I turned on Old Man King (Larry King for you young folks) and two pundits were going at it over Obama's recent trip to the Olympic festivities in Copenhagen. I'll establish their credibility momentarily. First of all, that was so last week. There is plenty of other stuff to bitch about like Afghanistan, health care, and how we're going to pay down our debt.

Secondly, we all know that one-sided arguments are bollocks and one of the characters last night was hardly qualified to comment on the goings on of the real world. Ready for disclosure? It was Penn Jilette . Yes, Penn from "Penn and Teller" fame (the tall one that looks like Andre the Giant). Honestly, I'd be more interested in his opinions on the political climate of Narnia than anything with real world resonance.

What's worse was Jilette's negative attitude toward President Obama and especially his trip to Copenhagen. Of course all of this was resultant from SNL's damning skit ridiculing Obama's apparent political impotence since some people say he has accomplished nothing. SNL has an illustrious history of presidential parodies usually focusing in on obvious faux pas's or mannerisms. On more than one occasion I have relished Dana Carvey and Will Ferrell's Bush family portrayals. What doesn't fit this time is Obama has done nothing wrong and is so well-spoken that I've yet to notice any distinct mannerisms that would extol a late night skit; I'm not saying they aren't there, I'm just distracted by his brilliant visions for America -- ones that Jilette, skeptics and usually Republicans do not have the capacity to understand.

Since it was last week's news, I'll get the Olympic trip out of the way first. Presidents of the United States are not only executives and commanders, but they are also de facto figure heads representing our country. Obama went to Copenhagen not as a singular person, but as the United States. If we'd sent anyone else the world would have said we didn't care. Some people said it was a job for the First Lady. I don't care how eloquent, smart, and brilliant Michelle Obama is, she is not the leader of our country and I didn't vote for her last November (although I would). I think a lot of people say President Obama went just because it was Chicago, his adopted hometown. I can't disprove that theory, but I'd like to believe he would have gone for Denver, Seattle or Boston too. It was beyond appropriate for the representative of America to pitch for the representative city of America in the Olympic realm -- all the other heads of state did.

What I really think people are "disgruntled" about is that Obama wasn't toiling away at his White House desk solving all our country's ills. Honestly, it probably took 5-8 hours for Obama to fly to Copenhagen, speak, network, and return. I'm pretty confident President Bush didn't get much accomplished at his desk except maybe winning a round of Yahtzee against Cheney. Do you really think Obama was going to finally sell government-sponsored health care in the same time frame as his trip? "Oh but he used taxpayer money to fly over there!" Hell yes he used taxpayer money to go over there -- he was making a pitch for the world to come to our country and spend their money. Considering the possible return on investment, I'm happy to personally put up one-billionth of one percent of the cost of him flying across the pond. Not to mention Air Force One is a flying White House; he has just as many resources to get his work done in the air as sitting at a desk (personally, I'd get a lot less done sitting in a stationary oval cubical anyway).

Jilette was certainly most concerned with an apparent lack of clear political victories for Obama's administration. Besides being entirely resultant from Obama's trip to Denmark, these are absolute proof of the President's failures, right? Wrong. These are complex problems that cannot be solved in a mere eight or nine months. I moved to Atlanta to try and solve Georgia's environmental problems by being employed as an advocate and after 10 months, I still can't get a job, or even an interview. The political issues that are boiling over right now were set in motion long ago. Obama has eight years of warring precedent to overcome, he has twenty years of unregulated relentless capitalism to stabilize, and our country's interests are more diverse than ever. Seriously I'd be impressed if Obama was able to get half of his major initiatives in place by the end of his first term.

We're micromanaging our employees if we are going to criticize Obama for not finalizing a few "marquis" American improvements yet. Obama has a deadline to meet the expectations we voted him into office for -- November, 2012 -- if we expect finality much sooner it's like assigning an employee a task to be accomplished within two weeks and asking why it's not done yet two days later. We're also ignoring all the good that Obama is doing that doesn't make the front page news.

Obama's administration has worked on improving education, has passed landmark environmental regulations, and has provided us one thing that is truly unique, necessary, and alien to Obama-haters. Obama has a vision for America. We've lost our ability to see our country's future years down the road and Jilette's comments illustrate our demand for immediate gratification. Obama's efforts to unify our country under a common goal do not scare me. What scares me are the legislators, commercials and organizations that are so arrogant to presume their short-term interests are in the best interest of our country. What scares me are the parents who are afraid of their children being exposed to our President. What scares me are the people who want Cadillac SUV's before they'll contribute $10 to their retirement fund.

I've heard Jilette, Republicans and main stream America say on more than one occasion that regardless of current affairs, Obama's grander visions are good for country -- give him an honest chance and support America even if you don't like our President.

Just a bit of inspiration

I can't wait until fall

Be an advocate for cycling!

So you want to make a difference but dont have time or done know how? Have you noticed how dangerous it is for cyclists, and pedestrians too, because of a lack of sidewalks and bike lanes or road hazards? The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition needs you help! They have an opportunity to report dangers like this across the metro region to political leaders next week - but they need input BY MONDAY. Visit See-Click-Fix on the ABC website and report a problem(s). I reported about 15 from deep grates in the road to areas where bike lanes are desperately needed. Even if you dont have any dangers you can think of, or if you're short on time, please click some of the current hazards you want to see fixed too and just click "I want this fixed too!"

CLICK HERE TO BE AN ADVOCATE

In the words of the great Mateo: "DO ET!"

Please express your educated opinion!

I received an e-mail from Congressman John Linder this morning inviting his constituents to a virtual Town Hall meeting next Tuesday. This call-in forum is designed to allow Mr. Linder to stay in touch with his base regarding some controversial issues swirling about in Washington. Primarily Mr. Linder wants to discuss the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) and what he calls a "paralyzing cap and trade system." While I wholeheartedly appreciate Mr. Linder's efforts to connect Gwinnett County to Washington, DC, his claims against this landmark environmental bill represent the type of dangerous ignorance that gave need for a bill like this to be born.

I want to encourage you to participate in this town hall meeting next Tuesday from 7-7:30 and challenge Mr. Linder's stance on the ACES Act. Too often our conservative representatives support a "false sense of freedom" that - regardless of our different thoughts on environmental protection - endanger our quality of life, our finances, and our children. For example, Atlanta has very little rail transit service compared to its size but we have freedom in using our vehicles, right? Sort of - we are free to use our cars but we aren't free to choose another form of transportation because there isn't a good alternative. Below are some key points and rebuttals to help you get a quality response out of Mr. Linder and your fellow Gwinnettians.

Everything in quotations is from Mr. Linder's statement concerning ACES and this call.

• The bill will "increase your taxes." He's obviously concerned about who will pay for the increase in government oversight. The bill itself will pay for increases through the auctioning of carbon allowances. In Sept. 2008, 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states took part in the first Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auction, raising $38.5 million for clean and renewable energy programs. The second auction in December cleared $107 million.
• The bill will "mortgage your family's future." We're all familiar with the language "the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of doing nothing." Environmentalists have been saying this since the 1970s; last fall every representative and senator in Washington was saying that in regards to the failing economy resulting in the passing of two recovery bills averaging $750 billion (the first one was pushed through by a conservative president). I propose that Linder and other skeptics who continue to fight environmentally progressive legislation are the ones mortgaging our childrens' future. Atlanta was named Asthma Capitol of the Country for the last two years. The reasons for this lie primarily in our government's lack of long-term action to reduce our dependence on cars and our reliance on five coal-fire power plants, several up wind of the city, for the majority of our power production. We could have avoided this by simple land management and community planning, with or without rail; we could have avoided this by converting these plants to natural gas (of course if we'd controlled growth we wouldn't need as much power). The Georgia state legislature is more responsible for this than Mr. Linder, but right now our region is mortgaged to the max - we need the environmental initiatives in this bill to begin recovering what we've lost and protect the health of our progeny.
• The bill would "send our manufacturing jobs overseas." I don't know where Mr. Linder got this information. ACES actually has provisions currently in place to retain our jobs in America by placing heavy tariffs and penalties on countries who do not practice carbon-reduction strategies. This ensures that our clean industries do not lose money to less-environmental production overseas. In fact, if there's anything Mr. Linder needs to push it's this provision; even President Obama expressed concern over this "protectionist" component of ACES.
• The bill would "throw family farmers off their land." Mr. Linder is no doubt referring to the idea that the USDA would be in charge of regulating carbon emissions from our farms and forests across the country. In 2007, the Supreme Court determined that the EPA had a responsibility to regulate CO2 emissions. The idea that the USDA would regulate CO2 in these areas of the country is a good thing for farmers since the USDA is more in-tune with the needs of agriculture. Regulating emissions from farms and forests has more to do with unnatural processes like clearcutting (which releases an enormous amount of sequestered CO2 and threatens other ecosystem processes). And carbon credits for these sectors don't have to cost farmers or foresters money; often times carbon credits are given out for free (although the effectiveness of this is questionable).
• The bill would "start an international trade war." See my above comments on oversees production and jobs. With or without government intervention, international trade has been a roller coaster of successes and failures for North America for 500 years. Environmental programs aren't going to make things any worse. The European Union has some of the strictest environmental trade provisions in the entire world (the Precautionary Principle) and last time I checked, both the Euro and British Pound were doing pretty well. I find it interesting that some representatives can stomach sending our soldiers to war over oil interests yet can't stomach a board room battle over the financial bottom line.
• And finally the bill would "drive our country deeper into recession." Why? Because the government is going to take your tax contributions and clean up our air, give us alternatives to traffic congestion, protect our wild lands and natural resources, practice what we preach to global environmental challenges, and hand over a cleaner country to our children? I don't like giving up my money any more than the next person, but I am smart enough to understand that as long as we keep our eye on our governments, that's how you get sidewalks, public transit, cleaner neighborhoods, better roads, bike lanes, and environmental education. I'm sure many people donate $10 or $20 to non-profit organizations throughout the year so I know the concept of supporting a good cause with your income is not completely foreign. If there was a non-profit organization that could accomplish all the infrastructure improvements I named above without the government, I'd say support them - but effective accomplishment lies in our governments near and far.

If ACES becomes law, we stand to benefit in the Atlanta region. We already lead the country in LEED-certified buildings meaning we'll be eligible for substantial federal funds. Our state has been reluctant to force Georgia Power to clean up their power plants which has added to our designation as a "non-attainment" area by the EPA, penalizing our region with diminished federal transportation funding; ACES would help Georgia Power move towards cleaner production by forcing their hand (and some would say raise our energy rates - you already allowed the Georgia legislature to increase our rates for an uncertain power plant). Everything's connected too, meaning that if we pay more for clean power, we pay less to fund lung-related emergency room visits by the uninsured.

Please call into this Town Hall meeting next Tuesday and listen to what Mr. Linder and other citizens have to say. Do not accept ignorant reasoning for rejecting ACES or other environmental legislation. This is an investment in our future. Even if you don't believe regulating CO2 is important because global warming exists only in Al Gore's world, the end result of cleaning up our toxic assets is beneficial to all, from Mr. Gore to Mr. Linder.

Here are some resources to do your own research: A closer look at the American Clean Energy and Security Act

Environmental responsibility is good for business: Green to Gold and Natural Capitalism

RGGI

"So-called "global warming" is just a secret ploy by wacko tree-huggers to make America energy independent, clean our air and water, improve the fuel efficiency of our vehicles, kick-start 21st century industries, and make our cities safer and more livable. Don't let them get away with it!" -- Chip Giller, founder of Grist.org

Information on calling in for the Town Hall Meeting: http://linder.house.gov/_files/SummerNewsletter2009final.pdf

Bikes and stuff

OK, I'm a big liar. A week ago I suggested an itinerary of discussion topics of which I'm going to actually touch on only a bit during this post. So if you were particularly edged (like, edge of your seat) by the promise of the Rainier trip or the Anderson Award or Seattle... sorry. Buy me a drink and we'll chat in person.

Now, one thing that I will bring up from Seattle is the fact that bikes are pretty much everywhere. For those of you I didn't brag to, I was treated to a 65-mile tour of eastern Seattle around Lakes Samamish and Washington while I was there. It was absolutely spectacular but as beautiful as the scenery was, I was more impressed by the absurdly awesome web of bike trails and lanes through the region. I think at least 59 miles of that ride were all on paths and lanes. Biking is a way of life there; although we were riding on a Wednesday around 11am, the trails were packed with bikers from all walks of life. Imagine the Silver Comet on a Saturday morning. You could never get much speed going, but for a pleasant ride it was unsurpassed.

Fast-forward to now... while in Seattle, my favorite bike tech sent me a message that my new bike frame and guts had arrived. So besides monkeyface (a little inside, I know) I had a beautiful new rig to look forward to which eased my return to humidity, searing heat, and anti-cyclism here in Atlanta. I'm having major withdrawal from the two-wheeled mobility of Seattle but it is helping me see our city in an entirely new light. I've always criticized our lack of bike-friendliness but I guess I'm seeing more opportunity than anything right now. First of all I think the Freedom Parkway Trail System is pretty bad ass. I used to be like "what the hell is this windy, nonsensical excuse for a bicycle workout path?!" but my fault was never seeing at as vital artery for a free-range lifestyle. If I were to purchase a house in Atlanta, it would be super close to the trail because I can't think of a better place/way to commute to work than along a pathway. In Seattle there's a huge greenway system that essentially runs from downtown past REI HQ in Kent and on to Auburn that a lot of REI employees use to get to work.

B) I think the number one policy in Atlanta's transportation plan (especially when expensive road, train and trail construction is unattainable becuase of the economy) is to paint bike lanes on every extra-wide road. What do I mean? I mean that a semi could pass me on the right side of North Druid Hills road and I'd still have 3-4 feet of clearance. There are roads like this all over the city but without delineated bike lanes, some cars cut the corners and potential bikers are less-encouraged to ride. For some reason labeling makes all the difference in the world; when I actually labeled the three recycling bins we have at work by the front registers, our recycling percentage more than doubled over 90% although the ability to do so was already there.

In support of that idea, I also came up with a sort of "fair tax" method of allocating funding for these facilities. Why don't all bike sales generate tax for projects that support using the product that was just purchased? I've always said bikes should be tax-free because of the health and economic benefits thereof, but it might be better to take the 6-8% tax generated by bikes and bike gear sales and apply it directly to facilitate the use of those goods. That makes more sense to me than requiring all new developments to have a sidewalk in front of them. The intention is good (piece meal the sidewalks together and eventually get a huge network) but honestly, who's going to use the sidewalk in front of Harbins Park in Dacula? They probably could have painted a bike lane from downtown Lawrenceville to the park for a similar price.

I was also curious to see what cities were rated as the best places to ride or commute. Not surprisingly Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco were tops in most polls. But the cool thing is that the cities aren't taking their 2nd- or 3rd-place rankings sitting down (on anything but a bike seat that is). Seattle's city council made a major statement that they wanted to dethrone Portland with a massive plan that includes adding 450 miles of bike paths and lanes! 450 miles!! Not including the Silver Comet and Stone Mountain Trail, Atlanta has 30 miles of bike lanes... yeah, where is our city council on that one? Maybe we need some more competition in the area; I know Greenville, Asheville, and the 'Noog are pretty bike-minded so hopefully that will help.

If you know me at all, this next thought on biking is probably going to be surprising. I'm seriously considering making cycling my primary sport. Yeah, I went there. I absolutely love running, but for the first time in my life, it doesn't make me panic to suggest the idea of putting it on the back burner. As pointed out by some friends, I think part of it is the summer heat. It's stifling. I don't feel like I'm just pushing back against pavement to run everyday but also pushing through a wall of airborne water. In any case it definitely doesn't help. Part of it is that I'm getting some major pains. The overuse of my less-than-perfect musculo-skeletal structure is becoming a major problem to the point of discomfort on almost every run. I think there is a lot of work to be done if I'm to overcome these pains/problems through strength and stretching and I'm committed to that plan but how much longer is it going to get me? I sort of think these pains are indicators of potentially extreme injuries to come. The last time I had chronic discomfort this bad I was headed downhill in rowing to a major hip/back injury. I'm not ready to give up just yet and I think training and racing Stump Jump this fall is going to prove either encouraging or career-ending.

Looking at it from a constructive means, I think part of the allure of biking is that I'm not that good at it. I'm alright but I know I could be better. Besides going further, I've pretty much reached the limits of my running abilities. Despite varied training plans and different nutrition, my speed isn't changing--I'm just more comfortable going longer. But with cycling I'm like a "2" on a scale of 1-10 (Mark Cavendish being a 10, Lance being about a 14, and Louie being a 7 or 8) which means I have many more levels of mediocrity to ascend before I think I'll hit my limit. There's also the old idea that cycling is just more fun sometimes.

And a lot of this probably also has to do with the Tour de France.... within 14 days I probably won't care about cycling anymore ;-) just kidding.

By the way, as mentioned in a fellow-blogger's recent account, my last major ride on Wednesday with the Whirchners in the gaps of North Georgia was epic. Searing rain, slick descents, and speeding cars with rooster tails of water and mud only adding to the difficulty, it was a lot of fun and at the same time the stupidest thing I've ever done on a road bike.

OK, I've been inside too long - I'm going for a ride.

Coming Soon!

So while watching a CNN story about how omnipresent social networking is these days, I wanted to provide a preview of upcoming blog articles I intend to cover in some context.

1. Seattle freaking rocks. It's my favorite city ever (even more than anything in Italy). I'm not naive to believe they do EVERYTHING right, but at the very least they have the most extensive biking community I've ever seen. It is now my sole objective to move there.
2. Climbing Mt. Rainier is probably biggest achievement of my life thus far. I still haven't decided if it has opened the door to continued mountaineering or if it merely punctuated a short-lived affair with alpinism that began in January. But what is undeniable is that it's the most beautiful place I have ever been; my climbing buddies were nothing short of incredible in their attitude and physical condition; and the bottom of my nose is torched from albedo. (check out my facebook page for pictures; a sample is below)
   
3. Being part of the Anderson Award event in Seattle with REI was a life-changing experience for me. It cemented in me a desire to make REI my primary life-long career choice, regardless of any detours it makes. I met some of the most inspiring people I've ever met and feel challenged to live up to my peers by changing my life even more. In the next week or so, I plan to begin commuting to work by bike just about every day (no, not both ways, just split the load and cut my footprint).
4. Seeing how well Seattle does "quality of life" confirmed to me that Atlanta and Georgia are as bad-off as I ever thought. It's pathetic that we've been around as a major trade and business settlement for much longer than Seattle yet we are decades behind the socio-environmental standards set for that region. Seattle would have a hard time being faulted for becoming a car-dependent city like Atlanta since it's formation closer to the development of the automobile. But Atlanta has been around twice as long as cars, yet somehow we evolved to accomodate four wheels more than two; more than feet; and more than rail despite the fact that we began our ascent to an international city because of trains. We have a lot to do! (duh)
5. I miss good air quality (ie, not Atlanta).

The view from our home at Camp Muir

VeloNews version of SportsCenter

http://www.velonews.tv/?articleID=2735