And then there’s stories like this:  a former Asheville firefighter shot a cyclist after stopping to argue with him over the cyclist’s son, who was in a secured child seat, because apparently the firefighter didn’t like the fact that the child was on a bike in a busy street.  As the cyclist turned to walk away after their verbal exchange, the aggressor shot at his head… and the bullet luckily lodged in his helmet, so the cyclist is fine.

And the guy who shot him was just sentenced to 4 months in jail.

Yeah, you read that right, 4 months in jail.

Soooo…. this is disturbing.  Someone tries to murder a guy on bicycle in front of his family because he doesn’t like him riding around with his child on the back, and the guy ONLY has to serve 4 months in jail?  Why does it always seem like crimes committed against people who are riding bikes are somehow rendered justifiable in the eyes of our courts?  OK maybe not but situations like this are very, very disspiriting, at best.  (And at worst, a total failure of our justice system.)

Anyway, rather than ramble on vaguely about it, or post angry comments on Treehugger, I’m going to suggest, like I always do, that if this upsets you as much as it does me, you should take action on it.  Write a letter to the editor of the Asheville Citizen-Times to tell them that you think their justice system has failed the cyclist and his family.  Or to tell them that you won’t be riding your bike, or anything else for that matter, in North Carolina any time soon.  In fact, forget me, write whatever you want, but the point is… act on it.  Don’t let that community, or any other for that matter, bully cyclists off the streets.

I have to go write my letter to the editor now.  Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving, everyone.

One that I can think of that might not be so bad is hopping on your bike and riding to a movie theater to see a film.  You aren’t wasting any fuel or creating carbon emissions!  (Although if it’s a Michael Bay film, let’s be honest, the environmental damage is probably already done.)  In any case, treat yourself to some popcorn for burning those calories on your bike ride there.  Maybe you’ll even see Food, Inc. and you’ll learn about corn, and the problem of ethanol (I haven’t seen the movie yet, do they talk about that?)… oh well, you get my point.

In conclusion, maybe the next time you think, “I need a nap”, you should just go ahead and nap, and you can feel good about it, because think about how you are NOT contributing more greenhouse gases to global warming!  Score. 

• Many employers provide health insurance options to their employees.  Great, but what about the millions of us who are unemployed or whose workplaces do not offer this option?  Nobody is required to provide health insurance to those of us who have been laid off or who can’t find post-graduation jobs in this ridiculous recession.  And sure, if we are independently wealthy we can buy Cobra or some other type of interim health insurance… for what, $600 a month?  Just “in case” we need to see a doctor?  This is more than one month’s rent in many places.  And it’s completely mental.
• Most other developed countries, including all of Europe and our friends to the north in Canada, have what is called a “single payer” health care system.  Which is to say the government runs it, doctors are government employees, it’s free to every citizen of that country, and it’s paid for with their tax dollars.  So, if they have a health situation, they go to the doctor, they are treated, and they don’t have to pay a dime.  And yes, in some countries this means that for non-life threatening surgeries, there is a long waiting period.  But it still doesn’t cost them anything!
• More is spent on health care in the United States on a per capita basis than in any other nation in the world.  The prices paid for health care services are much higher in the U.S. but it is the leader in medical innovation, with three times higher per-capita spending than Europe and producing more new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and affiliated biotechnology than any other country.  The U.S. also has higher survival rates than most other countries for certain conditions, such as some less common cancers, but has a higher infant mortality rate than all other developed countries.  The U.S. is also 46th for highest total life expectancy (courtesy of Wikipedia) and has the highest obesity rate in the world, with 64% of adults being overweight or obese.

Needless to say there are a lot of things to consider when trying to figure out a better health care system!  But, since we always like to think about “green things” here, what is the environmental impact of having poor health care? Or maybe a better question is, how do we improve our situation by having a better health care system?  Remarkably there doesn’t seem to be a lot written about this in the public sphere but I did find an article entitled Green Medicine: Environmental Impact of Health Care in a Canadian medical journal by a Kathy S. Worton, MD, and the article is not so scary with medical jargon that it can’t be read by normal people.  Incidentally, one of the biggest impacts that I think a preventative health care system based on wellness could have on our country, as opposed to a reactionary system based on sickness (which is what we currently have), is a reduced overall obesity rates.  Which, theoretically, would cause less strain on farming and food production.  But, as I have not done a full-scale study on this, I can only speculate!

Whatever your opinion on the health care debate, I think there is no doubt that the system we have here in the U.S. needs to be fixed.  Exactly HOW we fix it remains to be seen but here at the GDC we can only hope that it means less environmental impact in the long term!