By bike, in freezing rain, we don't care about the planet

The lovely month of May is what it is. No need to draw a picture. The temperatures recorded each day are 5 to 10 degrees lower than seasonal norms. We know, because we wanted to believe those who explained it, that the climate is not the weather and that a freezing spring in Western Europe does not prevent the average temperature of the planet from climb steadily. Without being scientific, we rely on the studies carried out on the subject and on the consensus that emanates from them. Nevertheless, by turning up the heating in your apartment, bumping into people in down jackets in the metro or when you can no longer move your fingers clinging to the handlebars, you have to call on all the reason in the world to don't doubt.

Under these conditions, the injunctions aimed at favoring “clean”, “green” or “responsible” transport to “fight against global warming” fall flat. Or rather water. A slogan, such as "Let's do it quickly, it's heating up", remains the main argument, and sometimes even the only one, of the promoters of the electric car, the tram or even the bicycle. “Be citizens”, they say in essence, “get on the tram, buy a vehicle that does not emit CO2, pedal! Future generations will no doubt thank you. Or not, because they are ungrateful.

Gas argument. Greenhouse gases pose at least two problems. First, they present an elusive aspect, difficult to apprehend, in a word, gaseous. Changing behavior to counter a change in climate that we do not see coming, even in a dream, is not very motivating. The other problem with greenhouse gases is that they reduce the subject of transport to a matter of ecology. However, no offense to those who caricature cyclists as green ayatollahs with broccoli between their teeth, we do not choose our means of transport according to the climate of tomorrow. Less in any case than depending on the weather of the day.

Forget the environment. If the omnipresence of the car is a problem, it is not (only) because of the climate. If the development of infrastructures according to the needs of motorized vehicles alone threatens society, it is not (only) because the automobile emits greenhouse gases. At the same time, if you get on a tram, it is to arrive on time. If we choose the train, it is to avoid traffic jams and possibly be able to sleep or work there. On a bike, you want to go fast, be able to park easily and stay in shape. Whether you're green or not. The organization of transport is a matter of politics, not of the environment. How to assure all travelers that they will arrive at their destination within a reasonable time? What can be done to guarantee everyone a measured price? How to distribute space, refresh the city, avoid making the landscape ugly?

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— asame Fri Feb 17 22:35:37 +0000 2017

Danger, cost, obesity. The private car is probably polluting, whether its propulsion is electric (yes, see this article published on the TF1 website) or thermal, but it is above all cumbersome, dangerous, expensive, both for its owner and for the community and therefore the taxpayer. Spending hours sitting in a car, especially if you can get around otherwise, is not very healthy. The correlation between motorization and obesity has been proven.

It's starting to look good. And then, to focus on the environmental aspects of transport is to take a risk. It's so easy to turn to those who are crying out for a little sobriety on behalf of the planet and argue that, as everyone knows, "there are bigger problems." Why bother people with stories of bicycles or Autolib' when they suffer the economic crisis and precariousness every day? Because, as everyone knows, at some point, and as whoever you know would say, "the environment is starting to do well". Especially when I'm on my bike in the freezing rain.