Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I think there's a lot of this stuff that applies to adults driving cars in winter, too! Removing a winter coat while sat in a car requires an act of contortionism. So in most cases you either leave the coat on and overheat in the car, or leave it off and freeze as soon as you get out. 101
Reposted by Cameron RobertsRachel Gilmore @rachelgilmore.bsky.social · 01/10/2026In short, happy “fuck them whales” and “fuck your grandkids” day to all those who celebrate (which is a scary number of Canadians, based on recent polls) 24346111
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 01/10/2026If the big fossil supports a policy, the policy is bad for the climate. End of. They will never support a policy that destroys their business, which is what we need to do. And no, we can't hoodwink them. They have very smart analysts on payroll. They can predict policy outcomes better than we can. 000
Reposted by Cameron RobertsDr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Universities should be safe for everyone. We need change. 3736
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026YIMBYism is based fundamentally on a good impulse, but via the Abundance movement, its ideas have evolved into something ugly. Just an uncritical, voice demanding "more! more! more!", regardless of consequences. It's become hostile to both the rule of law and to democracy. 100
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Back-to-work legislation of any kind is a form of forced labour. 000
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 18/09/2026This has always been the problem with carbon dioxide removal. All the best methods (i.e., the ones where nature does some of the work for you) are really hard to count precisely. That's a solveable scientific problem, but the issue is that lawyers and lobbyists often get more say than scientists. 000
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Brand new #Ottbike experience: Encountering a bear just off the bike path while riding my kid to daycare. It was minding its own business, but I definitely sped up a bit around the next turn. 020
Reposted by Cameron RobertsDavid Roberts @volts.wtf · 23/07/2026Threshold alert: renewables are about to pass coal as the No. 1 global source of electricity.electrek.coIEA: Global power demand is surging – and renewables are passing coalGlobal electricity demand is rising, but booming solar will help renewables overtake coal as the top power source this year, says the IEA. 13635188
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Is it just me or is vinegar-on-french-fries a dying preference in Canada? More and more restaurants seem to not have it as a condiment. Including very french-fry-forward places like burger joints. I'm thinking of buying a bunch of the little plastic packets to carry with me. 000
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 15/07/2026I will never take economics seriously as a discipline until they rescind the fake Nobel Prize they gave Nordhaus. 030
Reposted by Cameron RobertsToronto Boris @torontoboris.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Today on the WTF highlight of the day. You truly cannot wrap your mind around the thought processes of drivers in Toronto. Here's a cabbie driving into a protected bike lane head on with 2 ppl on bikes waiting at a red light. He couldnt use loading dock 50m behind me #cycleTO #bikeTO #waroncars 1713918
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Chris Smaje's foundational assumption is that the world is headed for an energy crunch. This is why he thinks any long-term solution other than neo-agrarianism is nonviable. A quick look at renewable power deployment numbers knocks this assumption down, and with it goes Smaje's entire worldview. 120
Reposted by Cameron RobertsSimon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 02/07/2026Did you know? Renewables have just overtaken coal as the world's largest source of electricity 34% – global renewable share, up 2x in 20yrs 48% – EU 37% – China 26% – US 24% – India 211156449
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Perhaps in a warming world, #ottbike should pivot to #ottcanoe 010
Reposted by Cameron RobertsDeb Jeffrey @debjeffrey.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Hard on the heels of Carney's announcement to shirk goals to reduce climate chaos, an over-heated & moisture-laden atmosphere gleefully made its point by drowning out Canada Day festivities & flooding much of Ottawa. Can you say 'pathetic fallacy'? Our PM missed the demo. Already Alberta bound.cp24.comOttawa receives 118 mm of rain on Canada Day, flooding roads and knocking out powerMother Nature disrupted Canada’s 159th birthday party in Ottawa, as record rainfall and severe thunderstorms flooded roads, knocked out power across the region and forced the cancellation of Canada Da... 113
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 30/06/2026This is the most persuasive graph I've ever seen. The debate it addresses should already have been long over, but this finishes it for good. The CCS people can never come back from this. 010
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 29/06/2026It's striking to me that when my wife and I (non-drivers with a baby daughter) arrive at a family gathering, we always just have a lot less stuff than my brother and sister-in-law (drivers with a small dog). I think big trunk space just encourages you to bring more stuff you don't need. 200
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Huh. Um. Why? You might as well plan a Betamax renaissance. By 2040, nuclear is going to be priced waaaay out of the market by solar and batteries. There is no way for these 10 new reactors to not be boondoggles.cbc.caEnergy minister plans 'nuclear renaissance' with up to 10 reactors built by 2040 | CBC NewsThe federal government is looking to build up to 10 new nuclear reactors over the next 15 years, with at least one of them outside of Ontario. 1103
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Critics of degrowth are completely incapable of being normal about it. This kind of demonising hyperbole is reminiscent of the Red Scare. I don't think it helps their case. 212
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 21/05/2026My commute takes me past this scrubby little urban woodland. For the last few years there have been homeless people living there. On cold days you'd see campfires while biking past. The city kicked them out and razed all the trees so they wouldn't come back. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...cbc.caCleared encampment near LRT station raises homelessness and addiction support concernsThe clearing last week of an encampment in an area south of Ottawa's Bayview LRT station is being flagged as a worrying symptom of the city's homelessness crisis. The recovery of a large number of nee... 100
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 07/05/2026And, by the same token: Are you sure these one-block trips were all being undertaken by unencumbered, able-bodied people in good weather? I just don't think that this argument against free transit is adequately considering the reasons why people might take a very short free bus trip. 010
Reposted by Cameron RobertsDr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 05/05/2026Ignore the liberals who say that the Democrats should support fossil fuels to be popular. They are wrong. According to the latest Yale data, majorities support generating renewable energy on public land. MAJORITIES OPPOSE DRILLING AND MINING FOR FOSSIL FUELS on public land. 23511
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 30/04/2026This intersects with my research on alternative meats, which I posted a thread about yesterday. One of the biggest current obstacles to replacing meat with much more sustainable alternatives is concerns (which in my view are inflated) that these alternatives are over-processed. 130
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 30/04/2026The details of what led to this situation come from multiple points of bad station design. An easy workaround to protect people would be to change the fare gates arrangement. But I guess revenue protection is more important than safety for OCTranspo. 100
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 30/04/2026Have any bike commuters figured out a good solution to the problem of carrying your just-in-case raingear during the day in the warmer months? It has to be easily accessible, including when off the bike. But it also has to be minimally obtrusive, or you'll get annoyed and forget to bring it. 100
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 28/04/2026.@chadmbaum.bsky.social and I just published a paper in Global Environmental Change The history of margarine shows it's socially and politically feasible to achieve big environmental benefits with alternative meat & dairy products www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...sciencedirect.comA precedent for the protein transition: Evidence from the history of margarine for the feasibility of transitioning to alternative meat and dairy substitutesAlternative meat and dairy products made from plants, cultivated cells, and mycoprotein have the potential to radically reduce the environmental footp… 110
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 27/04/2026For those who aren't familiar with the Staples Thesis: It's a theory of Canada's political economy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staples... The gist is: We make bulk, low-margin natural resource exports the centrepiece of our economy. This requires expensive infrastructure, which creates debt. 110
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 16/04/2026Canada Post is finally phasing out door-to-door delivery for good. They're also "modernizing" (i.e., cutting) the network of post offices. I guess we knew for a while that they were going to do this. It's exhausting watching everything around us constantly get worse. www.cbc.ca/news/busines... 010
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 09/04/2026I finally switched over to my three-season bike today after fat-biking through the snow all winter. It felt like I had a rocket engine. #ottbike 000
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 08/04/2026Iran and the Gulf are not the whole story. Horrible things are still happening. 010
Reposted by Cameron RobertsSwapna Krishna @swapnakrishna.com · 07/04/2026Earthset from Artemis II. I am overcome. 4862411550
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 02/04/2026A recent Not Just Bikes video pointed me in the direction of this paper, which does an amazing job summarizing ALL the harms caused by cars. From climate change and road deaths to oil wars and social isolation. Super impressive work. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...sciencedirect.comCar harm: A global review of automobility's harm to people and the environmentDespite the widespread harm caused by cars and automobility, governments, corporations, and individuals continue to facilitate it by expanding roads, … 110
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 31/03/2026Podcast recommendation request: Anyone know any good long-form podcasts that talk about green transitions? Something that gets into the details of science, technology, policy, economics, etc., but that is also willing to be critical, and isn't just a hype-cast. 100
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 30/03/2026A question for my fellow sustainable mobility nerds on here. What are your favourite examples of cool transportation systems in sci-fi, which get away from the cliche of flying cars and personal starships? 000
Reposted by Cameron RobertsLaurie Adkin, Ph.D. @laurieadkin.bsky.social · 29/03/2026There you have it--the magical thinking of neoliberals who believe that (private sector-led but publicly subsidized) economic growth (more incredibly yet, growth based on fossil fuel extraction) will solve both ecological and social problems. 1/ @albertandp.ca @ndp.ca #abpoli #cdnpoli 2205
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 20/03/2026This is very first-world problems but why don't public buildings in Canada have more coat hooks? Everyone using them in the winter is carrying around a heavy winter coat with them at all times. It would be a very cheap and easy way to improve a space for its users. 010
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 16/03/2026Sinners got a little bit robbed for best picture last night. One Battle After Another is a very good movie. But Sinners is generational. Also I didn't really expect Train Dreams to win cinematography, but it 100% deserved it. That movie is gorgeous. 031
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 06/03/2026The carbon fibre bike industry is out of control and must be stopped. www.giant-bicycles.com/ca/pre-rcarb...giant-bicycles.comPre rCarbon (2025) | First Bike bike | Giant Bicycles CanadaCrafted almost entirely from recycled composite materials, this one-of-a-kind balance bike has a superlight frame weight of just 2.5kg that makes it fast, fun and easy to push. The carbon chassis is p... 000
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Today I'm weirdly obsessed with a by-election happening on the other side of an ocean. To be fair I did live in Manchester for a time. Mostly I'm just excited at the possibility of real hope in a country that has had a very rough time politically over the last decade. 000
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 26/02/2026"Shah Alam got lost and ended up on the porch of a woman’s home...The woman called police...When Shah Alam did not follow police commands to drop his curtain rod [he used as a walking stick], they Tasered and beat him, then arrested him." This story was grotesque long before ICE even got involved. 000
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 26/02/2026There's an anti-car angle to this. A car dependent society gives the government, via the driver's licensing system, a veto power over whether you can go about your everyday life. This is very easy to weaponize against vulnerable groups. 120
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 24/02/2026Leaving aside any debates about the capabilities of AI: If you think it will replace office jobs, you don't know enough about office jobs. The concept of productivity doesn't apply that much to a lot of office jobs, because the purpose of these jobs is often not actually to produce anything. 110
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 23/02/2026Not to mention that a lot of people traveling on business are relegated to standard class anyway. But those are generally the people who have no say in whether the meeting is a plane trip or a zoom call. 020
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 18/02/2026-Solar panels -E-bikes (with a few minor reservations) -High-speed trains -Low-speed trains -Heat pumps -Precision fermentation to produce edible proteins -3D printing One obscure one I'm crossing my fingers for is that maybe someone will figure out how to cheaply mass-produce aerogels. 021
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Facebook is killing messenger.com so now I have to convince a bunch of my friends and family to start using Signal. I guess I can finally delete my facebook account for good. 120
Reposted by Cameron RobertsChristina Holland @mortalwombat.info · 17/02/2026The people who genuinely believe you can thoroughly proofread and fact check things 100 times faster than you can write them are people who have never thoroughly checked anything in their life 18015
Cameron Roberts @bikeademic.bsky.social · 17/02/2026The Quebec government just killed a promising tramway project in Gatineau. It makes me so angry that Canadian cities have to go begging to other levels of government to build infrastructure. We should be able to just fund stuff locally. Why do politicians who barely set foot here have veto power? 000