By Alex G. Tsakumis, 24 Hours Vancouver
I have a confession to make – and a somewhat grand one, as you might expect. I’ve abandoned any hope, whatsoever, that the pandemic known as “The Green Movement” is much more than dancing charlatans and shrill harridans, all taking advantage of a slumbering mainstream media, and our rather contemptible embrace of political correctness.There can be no other explanation: Hundreds of respected scientists, world-wide, question currently trumpeted global warming causes – nary a word in the press. Progressively weaker evidence supporting the alarmism you’d hear from the propagandists – near silence from the media.When it was discovered that ex-Vice-President Al Gore’s Tennessee mansion was one mammoth carbon hog, with tens of thousands of dollars going towards his energy bills each month, it was like pulling teeth to have a generally non-compliant media cover the story.Though, convenient lies, such as this, aren’t confined to green “titans,” because for as long as Vancouver Silly Hall, and its two-wheeled zombies promote the tale, I view the Burrard Bridge bike lane trial with an appropriately jaundiced eye.The citizen promoters of this radical folly, largely blogosphere/Internet trolls, who have little or no respect for any of you in your cars, are extremists. The sophistry they spout is almost entirely based on their mistaken belief that cars will kill us and that those who drive them must be punished out of their driver seats.It’s an altogether frightening, obsessive mentality. I once referred to it as cycling fascism, and the militant, pious venom from many of them was astounding. Even though, the very definition of the word, describes their mindset to a letter: Authoritarianism (theirs) over democracy (yours).Oh, don’t get me wrong, I own a mountain bike and thoroughly enjoy it at least three times a week. And many friends are cycling advocates, but they perfectly understand why I demand a large, safe SUV that will protect the occupants of two baby seats and a booster chair. Somehow, I just can’t bring myself to buy a Smart car or a Prius, considering they seem smaller than a cigar box.But the fanaticism of the cycling lobby in this town is no better addressed than looking at the possible reasons Mayor Robertson and Vision Vancouver imposed their personal philosophies on the rest of us.According to the mayor’s own numbers, average commute times (vehicles) have increased by six minutes from Georgia Street to West 12th going south bound, although, he didn’t included any counts of vehicles going this complete distance.So, to the math: 60,000 vehicles, on average, use the bridge daily. This has not changed from before the trial, a fact admitted to by the city.It is reasonable to assume, then, 80% of vehicles use the bridge in the defined rush hour periods, which means 48,000 vehicles may go north once and south once. At six minutes of increased time, going north and then south (24,000 vehicles each way), this is 144,000 extra minutes of carbon monoxide into our atmosphere.Based on the cycling lobby’s own average of carbon emitted per minute of vehicle use, at 0.048 kilograms, Vancouver, potentially, has an extra 6,912 kgs of daily carbon shot skyward, thanks to the Burrard Bridge bike trials.On 35 business days during the July 13 to Aug. 31 period, that represents a possible 241,920 kgs of extra carbon in our air due to Vision’s policy – excluding weekends and holidays and those motorists now using the Granville and Cambie bridges as alternate routes to and from work or school.And don’t forget the mayor’s numbers are based on the light traffic of the summer months on “most” Tuesdays and Thursdays – not Mondays and Fridays when traffic is heavier.As a green initiative the Burrard Bridge bike trial is already a MASSIVE failure.I suspect it was done as a favour to the cycling extremists (new votes), of which Robertson is a charter member (he rode in Critical Mass in 2008 and even addressed them).And interesting, too, that the mayor’s (and Vision’s) largest donor during the election was an American, who has invested significantly in a local bicycle manufacturing company.Starting to see through the smog?agtsakumis@shaw.caVia Email