Bloomberg Takes It to the Streets!

Photo courtesy of Flickr.com

The New York Times is reporting on a new experiment in New York City to have a "car-free zone" for three Saturdays in August. The article reports that

“If it works, we’ll certainly consider doing it again,” Mr. Bloomberg said, at a news conference in the East Village on Lafayette Street, which will be included in the route. “If not, we won’t. But we have never been afraid to try new ideas, especially the ones that have the potential to improve the quality of life

The area affected will be contained to Manhattan, from the hours of 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Some detractors worry about the impact on business, while others speculate that increased foot traffic will compensate. Cyclists were, however, uniformly positive in their reactions.

California Sues the Fed!

Some information today on California's suit against the EPA from NYTimes and breitbart.com. The case has been brought by Gov. Schwarzenegger due to a waiver requested by the state of the federal government to make more stringent its greenhouse gas emissions standards. The EPA rejected the waiver on grounds that new federal standards would be "more efficient" than California's proposed standards and that, contrary to the state's claim, no state is more greatly affected than another in terms of the effects of global warming.

Gov. Schwarzenegger made the following statement concerning the waiver rejection:

It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California and 19 other states from adopting these standards.

and

They are ignoring the will of millions of people who want their government to take action in the fight against global warming. That's why, at the very first legal opportunity, we're suing to reverse the US EPA's wrong decision.

Who knew Arnold kept a pair of birkenstocks and a hemp necklace in his closet?

38 Gallons of Fuel Wasted Sitting In Traffic

That's the nationwide average -- 38 gallons -- of wasted fuel per driver stuck in traffic each year. This is according to the Texas Transportation Institute's recently released 2007 Annual Urban Mobility Report. The average for San Jose drivers is 54 gallons per year. The study's authors, Tim Lomax and David Schrank, estimate that traffic congestion cost the U.S. $78 billion annually from 4.2 billion hours in lost productivity and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel.