Deadly addiction

To the editor:

The news article (J-W, Tuesday) about gasoline prices driving motorists to despair should remind citizens how this also affects their health.

This article provided a photo of a fuel sign in Menlo Park, Calif., showing the cost of regular $2.27, a higher grade at the cost of “arm” and premium at “leg.” This tells me that people are spending too much time in cars, which adversely affects their arms and legs. If we would park our cars and start walking, our health would improve, and the demand for Middle East oil would decrease.

Much of this problem is due to the way our cities sprawl pattern encourages people to move beyond city limits. This also consumes valuable farm land and results in traffic congestion, destruction of wetlands and contributing to water pollution from increased runoff. The J-W editorial headline July 17, 2002, “Those small-town values are worth preserving” should have been a front page headline.

Our addiction to autos and oil may also have much to do with our military activities in the Middle East.

Lester C. Marsh,

Lawrence