I’m happy to report that I just attended my first meeting as a member of the Cambridge Bicycle Committee. Part of what the committee does is advise the City of Cambridge about infrastructure improvements to make the city safer and more convenient for bicyclists—things like bike lanes and bike racks. This map shows current and planned bike routes.

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Cambridge has a five-year plan for street reconstruction, and bike facilites are added bit by bit as part of these projects, which is why looks sort of piecemeal right now. But there is a greater plan.

What do you think of the plan? Do you have any questions or comments for the bike committee? I’ll be happy to pass them along.

Electricity, transportation, and animal cruelty seem to be the three themes floating in the ether recently. Enjoy.

• How Green is My Electricty? – Green Lifestyle Choices. Jon describes the tradeoffs between natural gas and electric heat. 
• How Diverse Is Your State’s Electricity Generation Portfolio? – Think Progress. Massachusetts has the least diverse mix, relying heavily on natural gas, which is one reason why electricity rates have been so volatile in recent years.
• Cape Wind wins billions in backing, launches offshore wind in the U.S. – Grist. Cape Wind is on track to become the first offshore wind project in the U.S.
• How Smartphones Could Revolutionize the Way We Heat and Cool Our Homes – Atlantic Cities. A smart grid that communicates with customers in real time could help change people’s behavior.
• Gridlock deepens on Beacon Hill over transportation – Boston Globe. The House responded to Patrick’s revolutionary transportation plan with one that seriously doesn’t deal with the problems in the system.
• 15 Ideas for Making Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor Better – Atlantic Cities. Amtrak ridership in the Northeast is growing steadily, and the Federal Railroad Administration suggestions for improvements include increasing top speed 70 mph and a new route from Boston to New York through Worcester.
• Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime – New York Times. State legislatures are drafting laws to require job applicants to disclose their ties to animal rights  groups.
• Open the Slaughterhouses – New York Times. A journalist who has investigated slaughterhouses argues against such “ag-gag” laws.

That’s it for now. If you come across anything interesting (this month), send it my way.

March Green Links? Anyway, these are very transportation-focused again, because there’s been a lot of talk in Massachusetts about that lately.

• It’s Not Your Imagination, People Driving To Work Are Miserable – Boston Biker. Yes, people walking and biking to work are happier. And this in January and February, too.
• How Massachusetts Commutes to Work – Boston Magazine. In my neighborhood, only 20-40% of people commute by car, 20-30% take public transit, 22.5-30% walk, and 5-10% work from home.
• Bicycle parking changes in the works for Cambridge - Wicked Local Cambridge. Cambridge is changing its bicycle parking zoning for the first time in 32 years.
• Baby, you can drive my car: How car sharing teaches us to be good neighbors – Grist. I actually like meeting the people who rent my car.
• Your Biggest Carbon Sin May Be Air Travel – New York Times. ”May be”? It almost definitely is.
• New Reasons to Change Light Bulbs – New York Times. The best LED bulb reviewed here is just $10. 
• Styrofoam manufacturer sends letter to Somerville, objecting to proposed ban – Boston Globe. Somerville is seriously considering banning styrofoam.
• Boston makes list of top energy-efficient cities – Boston Globe. We’re #10! We’re #10!
• More Losers Than Winners in America’s New Economic Geography – Atlantic Cities. Talent clustering—such as in Washington, Boston, San Jose, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco, where at least 50% of residents have college degrees—has been increasing the divide between the haves and have nots.
• These Scary Maps Explain What Sea Level Rise Will Mean in Boston – Atlantic Cities. Ouch.
• America’s Real Criminal Element: Lead – Mother Jones. ”Gasoline lead may explain as much as 90 percent of the rise and fall of violent crime over the past half century.”
• It’s OK To Eat Quinoa – Slate. This is for you, Sharon. Because you’re just as much of a worry-wart as I am.
• Cats Are Evil – Slate. This is true for so many reasons, but specifically because they kill birds. Keep your cats inside, people.

That’s all for now. If you come across anything interesting (this month), send it my way.

Normally I don’t post bad reviews of things, unless I’m listing the pros and cons of multiple items to figure out which I want. But this LED desk lamp is so bad that I have to say something.

It doesn’t *look* bad.

When we moved into our new office at work, there was more natural light, but on gray days you still need something extra. So rather than negotiating about the overhead lights (people get really picky about fluorescents!) each person got their own desk lamp. I was excited to get an LED lamp, and rather than doing my usual crazy amount of research, I bought the first one I saw in the MassSave Energy Star lights catalog. Unfortunately, it was the Greenlite LED 5W Desk Lamp.

I cheaped out and got what I deserved. It’s so shoddily made that when I was assembling it, the single screw holding the arm together warped like butter under the hex wrench, so the arm wouldn’t stay up. I returned it for a replacement (at least that process went smoothly), and the second one had loose wiring, which meant that it only stayed on if the cord was in a certain position. So I’m done—this light gets no more chances. I’m so frustrated that I’m sticking with my old one for now, which runs so hot that I once tried to bake cookies under it. But at least it stays on and doesn’t fall onto my computer.

The lamp is no longer listed in the catalog, and I don’t see an Energy Star label for it on the Greenlite site, so maybe the company was making claims that weren’t true.

There are many reviews of LED lamps out there, but it doesn’t seem like the authors have actually tried all of them. I might as well just be reading specs on Amazon for all the good the recommendations do me. Have you found a good (and not too expensive) LED desk lamp?

No, the title isn’t referring to the health benefits (or time savings) of riding a bike. Did you know that if you commute to work by bike you can be reimbursed for any expenses you incur, up to $240 a year? Thanks to the Bicycle Commuter Act of 2008 (part of the Emergency Economy Stability Act), employees can be reimbursed for “reasonable expenses” such as “purchase of a bicycle, bicycle improvements, repairs, and storage for bicycles regularly used for  commuting to and from work.”

If you’re a Berklee person, here’s the form to submit your expenses.

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For some reason, Berklee only reimburses $15/month, not $20. I don’t know where the other $5 is going—administrative costs? But that should be enough for me. I just submitted my first receipt last week—a $75 tune-up. I figure I do that about twice a year, so I should be reimbursed for all of my maintenance costs.

There are some limitations to the program. You can’t get both this and other forms of transportation reimbursement (such as public transit or parking) at the same time, so any month you claim one, you can’t claim the other. And there does seem to be some bicycle prejudice: unlike other commuter benefits, this isn’t deducted from pre-tax income, and it isn’t pegged to inflation. It also doesn’t allow as much as other commuter benefits (for instance, $245/month for a T pass), but to be fair, riding a bike is much cheaper.

If your employer isn’t offering this benefit yet, ask them why not? Maybe they’re just waiting for enough demand. It took our benefits administrator, Crosby, years to finally set this up, so yours might already be in the works.