It’s that time of the year again — time to celebrate bicycles and the pleasant lifestyles to which they contribute. It’s easy to understand the benefits of riding a bike: exercise, better enjoyment and understanding of our surroundings, less traffic and smog, etc. (When you’re riding a bike you also get to worry less about the consistent military struggles over resources in the Middle East and other places: “What the [expletive] did I do?!?”) May is officially Bike Month, but celebratory events kick off this weekend with a Bike Art Poster Party at Coffee Emporium 6:30-8 p.m. Friday and the Bike Month Kick-Off Expo 2-4 p.m. Saturday at the downtown public library. The Expo will include crafts, bike-related books and unique bikes on exhibit such as a tall bike, bamboo bike and vintage, delivery and cargo bikes. CityBeat will preview in its cover story next week the many other Bike Month events scheduled during May, in addition to some fun cycling tips and a rundown of local cycling infrastructure and resources. (There might also be a check-in with a local guy who doesn’t have a car to see how things are going with him…) The following are some of the many events taking place in May, via Queen City Bike:Howl at the Moon Ride: Explore city streets at night, top off with a partyWalk Along Wasson Way-:Walking tour along the proposed Wasson Way Biking TrailPompeii and Pizza: Tour the exhibit at the Museum center then ride to a pizza lunchCyclo Femme: 50-mile female-only rideBike Swap- sell, buy and trade bike goodsBikes and Brews: bike pub crawlTeilen Story Hour: Tell your story or come to listenBike Prom: a formal bike rideRide of Shame Brunch Ride: Roll out wearing your clothes from Saturday nightHere’s a link to the official Bike Month calendar. And check out last year’s Bike Month cover package here (the image on this blog is last year’s CityBeat cover, which garnered much praise/ridicule from the Stuff You Will Hate “Caption This Picture” contest).

Cincinnati and Hamilton County fared poorly on a national list of places with polluted air that was released Wednesday.The Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington metropolitan region ranked as the eighth-worst for air particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association.Meanwhile, Hamilton County was given an “F” grade for its number of high ozone days, and a “D” grade for air particle pollution by the Lung Association.The rankings were included in the group’s “State of the Air 2012” report. The annual air quality report grades cities and counties based, in part, on the color-coded Air Quality Index developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to alert the public to daily unhealthy air conditions.The 13th annual report uses the most recent, quality-controlled EPA data collected from 2008-10 from official monitors for ozone and particle pollution, the two most widespread types of air pollution. Counties are graded for ozone, year-round particle pollution and short-term particle pollution levels. Also, the report uses the EPA’s calculations for year-round particle levels.Generally, the report found that air quality in America’s most polluted cities was at its cleanest since the organization’s annual report began 13 years ago. This year’s report details the trend that standards set under the Clean Air Act to cleanup major air pollution sources — including coal-fired power plants, diesel engines, and SUVs — are working to drastically cut ozone (smog) and particle pollution (soot) from the air. Despite this progress, unhealthy levels of air pollution still exist and in some parts of the nation worsened.More than 40 percent of people in the United States live in areas where air pollution continues to threaten their health. That means more than 127 million people are living in counties with dangerous levels of either ozone or particle pollution that can cause wheezing and coughing, asthma attacks, heart attacks or premature death.The Cincinnati region ranked 21st for high ozone days out of 277 metropolitan areas. Also, it ranked 39th for 24-hour air particle pollution.Still, the region is improving. The region has had 19.4 fewer high ozone days annually on average since 1996, and 10 fewer high-particle pollution days since 2000.

After spending several weeks reviewing requests for proposals (RFPs) from seven energy providers as part of Cincinnati’s initiative to power homes using energy aggregation, a decision has been made — and it’s a green one. Cincinnati has selected First Energy Solutions (FES) as the city’s new electricity provider, which will make it the first major city in the U.S. to use a 100 percent “green” electricity supply. The aggregation process works like this: All eligible individual customers “pool” their buying power to form a larger unit, which holds more leverage to negotiate lower prices on electricity. Cincinnati voters passed a ballot in November 2011 to approve the city's efforts to choose an energy aggregation provider. The designation of FES's energy supply as "green" energy doesn't mean that residents will see windmills and solar panels popping up across the city's landscape; rather, the energy will be designated "green" based on non-tangible renewable energy credits (RECs), which each represent proof that one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity has been sourced from a "renewable" energy resource. FES will provide the city with enough RECs to power all interested consumers' homes, meaning no home opted-in to the aggregation power will use electricity sourced from non-renewable resources such as coal. The city's possession of those RECs will represent the commitment to sourcing electricity in residents' homes from renewable, green resources. Some of the RECs provided to the city by FES will reportedly be sourced from local energy sources, including the University of Cincinnati's generating facility and the Cincinnati Zoo's Solar Canopy Project, although those sources will be a small component of the overall REC collection, according to Larry Falkin, Director for the Office of Environmental Quality. “Not only will we be able to put real money back in people’s pockets, but this establishes the city as a leader in supporting green energy choices,” said Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, who spearheaded the push to provide consumers with an energy aggregation option nearly two years ago. Over the next several weeks, Cincinnati will work to negotiate a contact with FES, and residents will receive information about FES’s services.   Residents who aren't interested in participating in the city's green aggregation efforts will be required to opt-out before the services are implemented. FES will notify all eligible customers and those who don't want to participate must reply to be opted out. There will be no cost to enroll in the FES program.According to the city’s press release, FES will save the average household about $133 each year on electricity bills. The switch could become effective by June.