LETTER: Put gas prices in perspective

Editor,

I was horrified by the article concerning rising gas prices in Friday’s Statesman. Many of the complaints and arguments raised in this article were at best, misguided, and at worst, pathetic. In an issue of the paper that had several articles about parking related troubles, I was alarmed to hear a student complaining about having to carpool to school with his wife. Perhaps the abysmal parking situation on campus could be solved if car-driving students carpooled with their roommate, spouse or significant other.

We need to put into perspective the real cost of rising gas prices. Another student complained that the additional cost of his planned road trip to Disneyland could really add up over 300 or 400 miles. When you work out the math to back up this statement, things don’t look so dire. Assuming that gas has increased from $1.50 to $1.85 per gallon for regular unleaded, and that you’re driving a vehicle that gets 27 miles to the gallon (I won’t even touch the issue of gas mileage, it’s likely worse than 27), across 400 miles you’re looking at a price increase of $6. If a vacation is so tightly budgeted that you can’t afford an extra $6 per 400 miles, maybe you should just head out on a picnic to First Dam.

I don’t want to be accused of being an anti-car activist. I own a car that I love dearly. However, I don’t think of myself as having some sacred right to drive my car whenever I want. I try to be conscious of the fact that there are more and more cars clogging our streets, and it’s only getting worse as the population in our valley grows. I think that gas should be MORE expensive, so we start treating driving less as a necessity and more as a luxury. Next time you see gas prices rising, just think, you could be in the UK where petrol costs $4.60 a gallon. Here a gallon of gas still costs less than a gallon of milk (1 gallon 2% Cream O’ Weber milk: $3.39).

Amy Marcarelli