On Richard Branson's ridiculous prize and bicycling

Am I the only one who thinks Richard Branson's offer of $25 million dollars for an invention that would remove carbon from the atmosphere is a joke? (Apparently not: the folks at CarFreeUSA have a suggestion [above])

It's not that climate change isn't a serious problem. It's just that a technology that can "overcome what could be the biggest challenge faced by humankind" will be worth a lot more than $25 million dollars. If such a technology is developed, $25 million is going to be a particle in the tail pipe compared to those guys will make (especially if they can charge $3 a gallon for the stuff).

But on the subject of climate change prevention technology, I've been riding my bike to work almost every day this year. This isn't too hard, since I now only live a couple miles from work. I've been wanting to start commuting by bike for a while, but is only now that I'm doing it that I've begun to consider such questions as biking etiquette and laws.

It's so easy to jump on a bike and start riding--you don't need a license, after all--and then start thinking, how many laws am I braking right now? For instance, did you know it is legal to ride on the side walk in LA (as long as you do so without a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property), but not in Santa Monica? Another thing I've only started to notice since getting on the bike is how many other people are doing it, and how many bike-oriented websites there are. I'm still figuring out the details, but here are some resources I've found:

LADOT Bicycle Services: LA bike laws, safety tips, even how to put your bike on the bus.
BikeMetro: A mapquest for bicyclists
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition: a membership based advocacy organization
Santa Monica Vehicle Code for Bicycles: Get out of the way!
Bike Commute Tips Blog: a blog by a bicycle activist in San Francisco