Coming out of the closet for air--my announcement for personal change!
I am coming out of the closet for clean air!
I am ready to change! I can no longer live in denial. It is time for me to give up my car, and become a full-time bicycle commuter. Why? Because I am sick and tired of slowly killing myself and my loved ones in a socially acceptable manner: by car exhaust.
In 1990, gasoline and diesel engine exhaust were added to the State of California’s Proposition 65 list of toxic chemicals. Car exhaust is composed of cancer causing substances like benzene, arsenic compounds, lead compounds and formaldehyde.
According to the Coalition for Clean Air, cars and trucks and other mobile air pollution sources account for about 94 percent of the cancer risk in the Greater Los Angeles region. Do we think we are any different from Los Angeles?
Cleaning up the air is about me and it is about us—and our choices and actions. I am ready to make the clean air choice!
This will be a new way of life for me. I am sure I will have many adventures, as well as plenty of hurdles to overcome. Please follow my journey as I post to my blog as Pneumatic Cyclist at http://news.fresnobike.org/. You never know, you may decide to join me!
Bitter much?
Bitter much?
Doubt it.
Truth is always an offence, but never a sin. I’m sure some overheated person will cuss me out now for speaking truth, so go ahead, BUT…
I live in Aptos (Rio Del Mar) now, after wearing myself to the bone & almost going crazy trying to "change" Fresno: What a total waste of 34 years of my life, especially the last 12! It was all I wanted to do Edluv, change Fresno for the positive, but now I have a very different perspective after being out of the SJ Valley for the past 10 months.
Respectfully, change in Fresno will NEVER happen Edluv, not within our lifetimes anyway, sorry to disappoint ya. Too much poverty, dust, under-educated people, bible-thumpers, fast food, bad weather, gas guzzlin’ trucks, no real parks, “developers” who just have NO planning skills, WAY too many corrupt police & city “officials”, and everyone’s angry & edgy all the time because they’re all having the same simultaneous allergic reaction and carry too much “wind/heat” from all the crap in the “air”.
To the guy that wants to bike everywhere: I’ve been there and done that too, many times. Most likely you’ll overheat and possibly die trying that in Fresno during July & August, but at least you won’t end up spending half of your days wasted while sitting at red lights with no cross traffic. For many years I found great satisfaction in walking across Fresno & it was often just as fast.
Yes Edluv, Santa Cruz would become polluted if everyone from Fresno came here, but not because of car exhaust. You’re welcome to visit though! :o)
-s
never give up
move? why not work for change?
and where is the cleanest air in cali? if we all move there won't their air quality be degraded by our traffic?
Ummm...
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I am sick and tired of slowly killing myself and my loved ones in a socially acceptable manner
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Why not just move? It sure worked for me & my family. 10 months later and I finally have JOY back in my life, plus the cleanest air in all of Cali...
-s
Pneumatic Cyclist
I like (love) the idea that we are aware of the air around us -- as I believe most of us are -- and that we should be concerned about cleaning it up... But there are a few things we also need to realize. The situation in Fresno is not just about Fresno. A bunch of our air comes into our little "bowl" here from other areas including the bay area! Can you imagine anyone in the bay area going along with this cycling idea?!! Also, there are folks who are bent on hurting people. I am on disibility because of such a person and he's behind bars because of it. These folks are angry at people riding bicycles and motorcycles and will not hesitate to run them off the road into the ditch! Add to that the bad element carrying BB guns and pellet pistols. Again, making biking very dangerous. I know several biker friends who have been riding for years and years and have never had a single problem like this. But due to my situation, I have also met many, many others who have had their lives drastically changed due to mentally ill citizens who make it a hobby of hurting people for the fun of it. How many other "elements" have I NOT mentioned here. Plenty, I assure you. As for me, I wish I had not been such an avid biker two years ago... Very Sincerely, Dan from Fresno.
wow..um..good luck. that's
wow..um..good luck.
that's hard to do in Fresno in the summer.
it's actually pretty dangerous.
i very nearly passed out riding my bike in the summertime
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