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June 2013
TOP STORY: BWC Sponsors World Naked Bike Ride Don't worry. BWC is Only Sponsoring From The Neck Up. BWC Also Sponsors a Disability Services Bike-A-Thon, Pedals4Push. BWC co-sponsored Portland's World Naked Bike Ride on June 8th. *Disclaimer: The word "naked" is not used sarcastically, metaphorically, or, dare we say it, tongue-in-cheek. You should be comfortable with the human body before viewing the following link.* World Naked Bike Ride originated as a protest against society' s dependency on oil. On this day, we can now celebrate cycling as a viable and vibrant mode of transportation! Read and watch a short documentary on why we support this event . Along with supporting the event, BWC staff got our buff on and handed out reflective wrist bands and stickers for as many of the 11,000-13,000 riders as we could.
 BWC sponsored Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity in a 48 hour bike-a-thon, Pedals4Push, on May 22-24. The event, hosted on Oregon State University's campus, boasted just under 120 participants riding the equivalent of 3415.7 miles in 48 hours. While weather kept some riders at home, the event was a great success. All proceeds raised for the event were donated to Push America, an organization dedicated to providing support for our fellow peoples with disabilities across the country. Bryan Williamson, the Push America Chair, told us "It was a ton of fun and we had 18 different organizations come out and ride with us. The Beaver News Network did two pieces on the event and it was really neat for a lot of the riders to get interviewed and be broadcasted for the whole area to see." Because of the enthusiasm of participants, we are looking forward to even more participation in next year's Pedals4Push.
Contact Us.  | | AAA WATCH AAA against Oregon's Clean Fuels Program What does AAA Support? The "Organic" Coal Industry? In late April, BWC joined with Clean Fuels Now and more than 100 other companies to encourage our Oregon members to consider contacting our state officials and voice their support for Oregon's Low-Carbon Fuel Standard, the Clean Fuel Program which the Oregon legislature had scheduled to sunset in 2015.
AAA believes the Clean Fuels Program is a bad for the economy.
Read More. | | | | Washington Watch United States Is World's Number One Fossil Fuel Subsidizer You Thought Green Energy Projects Got More Subsidies? Take a Closer Look The most significant finding is that most of the problem - a little over $1 trillion worth - is the failure to properly price carbon pollution. Global warming is the ultimate example of a "negative externality" - a market failure in which one market actor enjoys the benefits of an exchange while another actor pays the costs.
Read More | | | | BWC Highlight Calculate Your Carbon Emissions With Our Carbon Calculator Choose to Offset Your Carbon By Supporting One of Two Great Environmental Projects.  Click Here to calculate the carbon emissions of your vehicle.
The New Bedford Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project collects methane and carbon dioxide gas from a landfill, which prevents its release into the atmosphere. Methane is approximately 23 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Bakersfield, California, two steel recycling facilities employ Mega-Shredders which, can process up to 300 tons of steel an hour - up to 10 times an ordinary shredder; recycling large structures such as trucks, busses, and even airplanes.
Carbon Calculator. | | |
BIKE NEWS Dozens of U.S. Cities Board the Bike-Sharing Bandwagon Producers of The Flintstones Receive an Award For Reminding Us Foot-Power is a Great Way to Travel.  By Janet Larsen
When New York City opened registration for its much anticipated public bike-sharing program on April 15, 2013, more than 5,000 people signed up within 30 hours. Eager for access to a fleet of thousands of bicycles, they became Citi Bike members weeks before bikes were expected to be available. Such pent-up demand for more cycling options is on display in cities across the United States-from Buffalo to Boulder, Omaha to Oklahoma City, and Long Beach in New York to Long Beach in California-where shared bicycle programs are taking root.
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Portland's "Bike killer" grates slowly going away -- but not without your help  By John Killen, The Oregonian
Officially, they are known as rectangular catch-basin grates with vertical slots.
But if you ride a bicycle, they have a shorter, more pointed name: bike killer.
They're a dying breed here in Portland, but there's still a few of them lurking out there, waiting for the unwitting and the unwary.
The good news? Help is on the way. Slowly, but surely.
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Car Tips: Improve Fuel Economy 14 Easy-to-Follow Tips to Increase Your Fuel Economy Hint: None Involve Cramming Vegetables In Your Gas Tank (At Least Not Whole).  Did you know that the average car releases about one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile driven?
Driving a fuel efficient car, driving to maximize fuel efficiency, and maintaining your car properly can greatly reduce your car's impact on the climate.
Here are 14 Easy-to-Follow Tips to Increase Your Fuel Economy
Read More | | Parking Apps Proliferate, But Can They Solve The Problem Of Traffic Congestion? Is There Really an App For Fitting 10,000 Cars Into a Lot Built For Four? By Richard Read
[In May, Green Car Reports] received a press release from a company called Pango, which makes an app that allows motorists to pay for on-street parking. ( Click here for the Pango's demo video.)
If you live in a city of any size, this isn't especially newsworthy. Products like Pango have been rolling out for years: some work through apps, some make use of simpler text-to-pay features. In fact, we've seen municipalities deploy more than one such system, perhaps to see what works best.
No, the question here isn't about novelty, it's about ease of use and impact on the community. How do such products measure on those fronts? Not as well as we'd like.
Read More. | | Tesla Model S Vs Chevy Volt: Owner Compares Electric Cars What's The Difference Between Duracell and Energizer? Who Cares, Check Out These Cars!  By David Noland
Although not precisely comparable--the Tesla is pure electric, while the Volt has a range-extending gas engine to back up its battery--driving the two cars back-to-back on a daily basis has highlighted the pluses and minuses of each.
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Travel Tips Five Travel Problems and the Sites That Try to Solve Them On a Trip? Having Difficulty With Your Boss or Travel Buddy? Try Ditch-em.com! By Seth Kugel
Ah, the problems budget travelers used to have. Hours on the phone with the airlines trying to pin down the cheapest fare. A bargain B&B that looked great in the brochure - if only there were a way to access feedback from previous guests. I wish there was a way to tell the world in 140 characters or less that I made it to the top of this Mayan temple!
How quaint. But there are still plenty of problems out there, just waiting to ensnare the traveler. Below are five, along with relatively new Web sites that are trying to solve them. Note: "trying." None of them work perfectly and some have a long way to go before they become household names. But they all get an A for ingenuity.
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