When you thought you'd heard it all: "...bicycling is not environmentally friendly because people who ride bikes pollute the air when they breathe"

http://bikeportland.org/2013/03/02/wa-legislator-cyclists-increased-respiration-leads-to-air-pollution-83669

WA legislator: "Cyclists' increased respiration" leads to air pollution - UPDATED

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on March 2nd, 2013 at 1:39 pm

A high-ranking Washington legislator has added insult to injury in his support for a bike tax by claiming that bicycling is not environmentally friendly because people who ride bikes pollute the air when they breathe.

An email that surfaced online today from Washington State Representative Ed Orcutt(R-Kalama) outlines his position on the transportation tax recently proposed by Democrats in the Washington legislature (read update below for source of the email). As we shared a few weeks ago, part of the tax package includes a tax on the sale of bicycles. Rep. Orcutt is staunchly opposed to taxes of any kind and is even opposed to the gas tax increases in this legislation; but in an email dated February 25th, Orcutt expresses his support for the bicycle tax provision. Most of his argument is not terribly surprising: He believes only people who drive pay for the roads, "So it only makes sense that bicyclists would be required to pay for the 'roads' they use."