There's no time for candidate debates; let's talk about bike touring.

 Today is the day that three Vermont gubernatorial candidates (Stephen C. Bellows, Peter Duval, and Phil Scott), whose names are printed on the Republican primary ballot, were supposed to debate on Vermont Public Radio and Television. But Mr. Scott doesn’t feel like campaigning for his Republican nomination, “Gov. Phil Scott has told VPR-Vermont PBS he’s unavailable for a primary debate in June” (Matthew Smith, personal communication, 03 June 2022). So instead of letting me and Mr. Bellows go at it, VPR has decided to cancel its debate and cover bike touring instead. I expect that vtdigger will do the same. 

There’s not much democracy without debate. No question about it, though; avoiding debate and interviews is an excellent political strategy. But it’s not the press’s job to be Governor Scott’s agent. 

VPR yielded to Mr. Scott’s desire to have a summer vacation instead of a proper primary campaign. VPR said it would do candidate interviews instead of a true primary debate. Don’t hold your breath. 

Do something. Let the media know you would like to hear from a candidate prepared to act on global warming, biodiversity, inequity, and the many complications of our economy, one built on high consumption and waste.

I did get some media exposure today on Vermont Edition, where the topic was biking. I know something about biking, having cofounded the Vermont Bicycle and Pedestrian Coalition. And I have been to some places by bicycle: Europe, the Soviet Union, Cuba, Japan, and Québec (I can recommend La Route Verte in the blueberry lands around Lac Saint-Jean).

My comment (~28 minutes into the radio program) was about the dangers of high-powered ebikes -- flimsy motorcycles masquerading as bicycles. Japan, where e-bikes were first launched, never let e-bikes get out of hand, but China and Europe did allow high power (greater than 250W). Subsequently, they had to tighten regulation, dialing back the power threshold for what should be considered a motorcycle. 

Unfortunately, Vermont legislators and Governor Scott aren’t aware of that regulatory history and mistook Class 1-3 -- proposed by the industry lobby group, peopleforbikes -- as if it were effective regulation. Speed kills, and electrification doesn’t make it less dangerous. Rather, these Class 1-3 designations open the door for motorized use of non-motorized paths and trails. The sooner that mistake is corrected, the fewer casualties will occur, and the less stranded expense will be wasted.

Peopleforbikes has been eroding the distinction between motorized and non-motorized trails and paths for quite a while, always seeking to put faster, more powerful machines on facilities that have long been designated for walkers, bikers, and animals. From an industry perspective, this planned obsolescence, selling cheap e-bikes that cannot be sold in Europe, makes sense. For regulators and the public, it makes as much sense as buying fax machines in the age of email, Zoom, and Twitter.

Meanwhile, the pedelec standard, EN 15194, is a European Union regulation that has been steadily improved over the decades. It regulates the largest e-bike market outside of China. And countries beyond the EU rely on it as their reference standard. If a bike has an EN15194 sticker, the manufacturer certifies that it has complied with important e-bike safety and performance standards. 

“[T]he mechanical part of an electric bicycle needs more stringent requirements than a conventional bicycle.” (Bike Europe, 23 May 2019)  As Vermont struggles to regulate these machines, consumers can do their part by sticking with human power or asking retailers for e-bikes that meet European standards.