Air Quality

Pedaling Protest Takes on Car Show

The Chicago Tribune reports:

By Jason Varone

1:29 PM EST on February 12, 2007

Dressed as polar bears and Santa Claus and towing signs that read “True Patriots Don’t Burn Oil” and “Be a Hero: Drive Less,” a group of bicyclists gathered Saturday in front of McCormick Place to protest the Chicago Auto Show.
“We feel there are enough cars in Chicago,” said Dan Korn, a lead organizer. “You can’t get away from the sights, smells and sounds. And here comes the auto show glorifying it.”

And it looks like the protesters have good reason to be outraged. The Auto Spectator reports:

Shell Oil Products US announced today that it will add to the heart-racing excitement of the 2007 Chicago Auto Show by giving away $10,000 in free gas.

Jason Varone

Jason Varone battles the streets everyday during a 9 mile commute on his bicycle from downtown Brooklyn to the Upper East Side. In addition to his efforts on Streetsblog, he is an artist making work related to the environment and technology. Examples of his work can be found at www.varonearts.org.

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.