Articles by JMG

In Oregon, bicyclists want to roll through traffic-free stop signs

In the '70s, the right-on-red wave passed through the states as drivers were increasingly frustrated by idling at red lights devoid of cross traffic. When one is stopped at a red light on a timer, a right-on-red and the even more daring left-on-red -- permitted in Oregon in some situations -- make sense.

What makes even more sense is to let bicyclists treat stop signs as yield signs so they can roll through or stop when appropriate. Adopting a similar rule from Idaho, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance is trying to get the laws changed in Oregon to make biking easier while imposing no downside for automotive traffic.

This is an idea that should spread to all 50 states; it's the right-on-red movement of the 21st century.

Kids stay off lawns, debunk ethanol fantasies

Those of us of a certain vintage recall a showman named Art Linkletter, an avuncular old guy who seemed to have a knack for connecting with kids and getting the kids to talk to him like they talk to each other, leading to shows and books on the theme of "Kids say the darnedest things."

Well, some slightly older kids have shown that kid wisdom is still around:

Green as in money

Wow -- somebody spent a lot of time taking notes at Grist, then found some deep, deep pockets and spent a lot of money putting up a slick corporate environmentalism-lite site called "Mother Nature Network."

It's a gagger.

The only blessing is that, given the cost structure required to keep all those beautiful people going, it's either going to be a vanity enterprise (like the Washington Times) or short-lived.

Before we debate gas taxes vs. mileage taxes, Oregonians must pay for roads with those taxes

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski (D) has attracted a lot of attention by calling for an expansion of a pilot program that replaces the gas tax with a per-mile tax which charges the same fee to a Hummer driver as a Prius driver.

The pros and cons of mileage taxes vs. gas taxes are discussed in a post to the political blog BlueOregon, and the same essay was sent out as a query on a transportation activists' listserv. I started several times to respond ...

But I end up stopping, because this whole discussion ignores the elephant -- heck, the blue whale -- in the driveway.