Economy Takes Bike Industry on Joyride

Checked out wired's blog today... Yes, it makes sense that eco-consciousness, high gas prices and obesity worries would blend together and accelerate things for somewhat sleepy bike industry.  Not such a bad thing, especially since there are less enjoyable thing to do than go for a bikeride. 

Happily now included in the family are electronic bikes, ebikes, which you may say are really battery powered scooters (shhh).  But these gizmos are picking up speed in terms of popularity, very much so, especially in China.  It's the future, and therefore, very soon Brangelina will be pictured riding on them.  

Drinking Water, the EPA, and Slower Thyroids

Perchlorate is widespread contaminant from unsafe disposal of solid rocket fuel. The contamination arose out of the lax environmental standards from the cold war era (starting in the 1950s). The EPA just made a decision to do nothing about the contamination problem, which has been raised in the west and southwest, particularly in the Colorado River Basin.

MSNBC has cover's the EPA's decision and the public's response.

It's known to be present in drinking water in more than 35 states. It also has been found in the food supply, particularly in lettuce. It affects humans by inhibiting iodine intake of thyroid gland, causing reduced thyroid function.

From Burning Man to Berkeley, Solar Power to the Masses

Berkeley's about to offer a pilot program that provides government financing when houses retro-fit their power with solar panels. Ordinarily this costs about $22k, and instead homeowners could pay $180/mo to the gov't for 20 years (ideally to be offset by savings).

NYTimes and the SFChronicle cover all of this quite positively.

My green NYC building has solar panels. Typical nyc power bills are around $150-300/mo in 2 bedrooms and I pay $50-75/mo.

So it looks like the Berkeley deal could making going solar ~ free~ , which is pretty hot!

Study: BPA --> Heart Disease/Diabetes

This is one of the first references I've seen on BPA (bisphenol-A) that shows links to heart disease and diabetes. BPA has long been thought to cause endocrine disruption, although endocrine disruption reaching into new diseases in addition to cancer may be new info to the public. BPA's already banned in Canada. This is promting the FDA to reconsider it's position that BPA levels and exposure are believed to be safe.

NPR's Allison Aubrey discusses on today's All Things Considered.

Wikipedia covers BPA chemistry and suspected toxicity in depth.