It’s official. Paris has become the first world capital to roll out 10,000 bicycles available for rent at modest cost. The latest in Parisian Mayor Bertrand Delanoe’s anti-car war, the program is supposed to double the number of bikes equipped with anti-theft devices by the end of 2007 and predictions are that car traffic will be reduced by 40% within 13 years. So far the result has been fantastic according to the London Times, with 1.2 million rentals in the first three weeks and many commuters hopping on who would otherwise be standing still in gridlock traffic, spewing exhaust fumes. Personally I think biking in Paris could be suicide, but that’s another column.

Brussels and other smaller cities around the world already have similar programs. Stockholm does as well, and I can’t fail to mention its heavily carbon emission-taxed country, which also boasts some of the lowest urban greenhouse gas emission levels in Europe, obtained without giving up conveniences or economic growth. Even Beijing, once dominated by bicycles, now registers 1,000 new vehicles every day, tried an experimental car ban, part of a wider project to reduce congestion before the Olympics by improving Beijing's public transport network. Let’s hope bicycles make a comeback in China as well.

So where does Portland, known for its bike-friendliness, fit in? Right at the top, it turns out. To start, Commissioner Sam Adams wants to wheel out 500 “Red Bikes.” Unlike the failed “Yellow Bike” free ride-sharing program of the ‘90’s, these cycles will discourage theft and vandalism by a system that tracks bikes and riders. Currently the city is requesting bids for the 500 bikes.

For so long cars have been associated with freedom and flexibility (at least that’s what the auto makers told us while ripping up street car tracks in every American city). But now many of us are feeling the weight of being dependent on a device that is dramatically increasing greenhouse gas emissions, fueling foreign wars and creating all the other pollution and hazards associated with fossil fuels. Instead of developing fuel efficient vehicles, the Big Three in Detroit have come up with so-called flex fuel cars and trucks -- 99% of which run on gasoline – that increase our dependence on fossil fuels instead of fuel efficiency.

Europeans overwhelmingly buy readily available small cars because fuel is twice what it costs here. However, diesel fuel there is set much lower because petrodiesel-powered vehicles produce 30% less net greenhouse gas pollution than similar gas-powered vehicles. Biodiesel, easily found in Portland, typically produces about 60% less than petrodiesel and is biodegradable and non-toxic. The small diesel-powered cars found everywhere in Europe are almost non-existent in the US. Shopping for one here leaves much to be desired, with just a small selection of Volkswagen models available.

Some road work on a street near my home revealed the old street car tracks long obliterated by asphalt. It made me think of how it could be … what if everyone lived within five miles of their workplace and rode a bike or mass transit to get there? Or, think about it: what if everyone paid the true price of a gallon of gas? The environmental, social and health costs are phenomenal and there are some atrocities that can never be reversed.

For more info on biodiesel, visit:

www.biodiesel.org

Sequential Biofuels (Click to view locations around Portland and 3 Chinook Book coupons)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel