Paying Higher Prices at the Gas Pump

Recent increases in gas prices, annoying as they are, can actually save us money. True, most of us in Los Angeles need a car, but we don’t need to drive as much as we do. Combining shopping trips, carpooling once or twice a week and similarly rational measures to modestly reduce our driving mileage will make up for the increased cost of gas.

The bonus comes in when we consider that the true cost of driving is approximately twice the cost of gas, when we consider wear and tear on the car, oil changes, etc. Driving less postpones these expenses, makes our cars last longer and saves us more money.

By driving less we are also good Americans. The United States has a persistent, troublesome trade deficit. About half of that deficit is due to our importation of foreign oil. By using fewer oil products, we help our country’s economy by keeping money here.

PAUL W. ROSENBERGER

Manhattan Beach

* To someone just paying attention to the news, it might appear that the problem with gasoline prices is that they are too high. Two dollars per gallon, however, barely begins to reflect the social, environmental, scientific and military costs of maintaining the current private transportation regime. In other countries, gasoline costs enough to cover these directly. In the U.S., we close the gap with our taxes.

Our country spends billions annually on highways, and our cities and counties spend millions separately on roads. Our neighborhoods are paved, choked with traffic, lined by noisily alarmed cars at night, dotted with ugly, smelly gas stations, the streets a threat and often unpleasant to walk.

Our government has historically subsidized gas exploration, in some instances at the expense of more efficient public transportation. We have even fought a war to defend dollar-a-gallon gasoline. We pave the surface of the Earth in ever-increasing proportions, leaving less room that is enjoyable or even healthy.

It’s dangerous to cross the street, and neighborhoods have little to recommend walking anyway, and the local stores have lost business to the huge chains with parking lots and marginally lower prices.

This is some of what we’ve lost. Is what we have gained worth it all?

STEPHEN M. SHEA

Los Angeles

* I laughed so hard I almost burned a bearing when I read of the Mercedes 300E owner complaining about higher gasoline prices (April 20, Orange County). Unless it is older, ownership of that car costs at least $10,000 a year. The gasoline increase will cost an extra $150 to $200 a year, or just 1.5% to 2% of his total car costs.

In the last couple of months we’ve seen a 25% increase in crude oil prices, two local refinery shutdowns and the continuing conversion to low-pollution gasoline, which alone costs about 10 cents a gallon. Yet in that time gas prices have increased only about 17 cents to $1.40 a gallon (around 14%). That is a remarkably low increase and gasoline is a remarkably cheap commodity.

Considering that his car’s prestige factor alone costs him perhaps $2,000 a year (20%), I think the owner has little reason to complain.

JOHN HAMAKER

Laguna Niguel