Recently, my local paper (the Mankato Free Press) carried a story about a young man who was hoping to "help the environment" by getting a grant from Pepsi to fund electric bikes for college campuses. If the guy is serious, he's saying a lot of bad things about the state of education in our country today.
How so? Well, we can start with the fact that substituting an electric moped (powered by a coal fired power plant) for a gasoline powered version is hardly ecologically sound, and when one considers the ecological impact of adding another vehicle to the standard student's garage, it's not even clear that using it instead of a car would be an environmental bonus, given that it would be used only a few hundred miles per year. Never mind the little fact that battery powered vehicles don't do so well at 20 below.
And then the final bit of hilarity is, of course, that most students would not be replacing a car with this, but rather their bicycle or walking shoes. Which, of course, burn no gasoline or electricity, work during the winter, and help students achieve a "freshman 15" instead of a "freshman 50."
If a hallmark of true education is being able to think through the consequences of an action, Mr. Leenhouts is not saying nice things about his alma mater, to put it mildly. He also apparently needs to get fitted for a helmet--I would recommend this kind, and an appropriate vehicle to go with it.
Hot Gear Friday: The Swiss Army Guitar
-
The word “iconic” is overused these days. I try to avoid it. It’ll be hard
in this next bit. If you are not a guitar player, and someone says
“electric gui...
7 hours ago
2 comments:
That is pretty dense. Students have cars to go OFF campus, and longer distances, and to take passengers, which this electric bike would do very little for. As you say, it would replace walking, biking, or taking the campus bus. I mean, you can't even carry a pizza on a bike without special equipment!
On a related note, that evil conservative bastion of environmental destruction, Grove City College, had its bike racks so full that we could barely stuff my daughter's bike close enough to a rack to lock it (required) when her bike went back with her after Easter. Obviously, the people who go there are all environment-hating, gas-guzzling-loving, nature-rapists.
Now hey, let's not corrupt what we know about evil people at places like Grove City by introducing actual facts and evidence to the discussion. :^)
Post a Comment