Cities cover just two per cent of the world’s land area, yet they account for about 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the United Nations, 59 per cent of us now live in cities; in developing countries, 81 per cent of people are urbanites. And those figures are rising every day.

Congress couldn’t get it together to vote even on the smallest of possible energy bills -- the renewable energy standard -- before the October recess. That doesn’t change the reality that our energy dependent society needs to find alternatives quickly. Changing up our approach to transportation, one of the biggest sources of energy consumption, is a good place to start.

If more Americans used bicycles as a primary mode of transportation, the country would be closer to getting its energy use under control. So how can we make biking safer, easier, more mainstream? Infrastructure, safety, and education are key. It also helps to replicate model behaviors.

Chris Carlsson is author of Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists and Vacant Lot Gardeners Are Inventing the Future Today. He is also one of the founders of Critical Mass, monthly collective cycling actions that happen in over 300 cities around the world.  rabble.ca caught up with him recently in Vancouver where he was attending Car Free Day.

Am Johal: How is critical mass fitting in to cities around the world?