Letters to the editor

People make traffic worse

Re “Isolated in our cars, but suffering together,” June 8

Very good article on congestion in L.A. But did you notice that many of the people highlighted in the article contribute, in his or her own way, to the congestion?

Many had bad driving habits: drinking beverages, having cellphone conversations, listening to audio books or changing radio stations. Every one of these behaviors takes concentration away from driving, increasing the probability of an accident.

Each of us, in our own insidious way, contributes to the congestion we claim to hate.

David W. Harralson

Hollywood

Traffic in California will only worsen as long as the state continues to add a whopping 500,000 people annually. Unchecked population growth from our nation’s unofficial open-borders policy is contributing not only to gridlock but is stressing our schools, emergency rooms, the environment and our overall quality of life. It’s completely unsustainable. The U.S. Census projects the country’s population will explode from 300 million to 400 million in the next 30 years. And for every four new U.S. residents, about three more cars are added to the roadways.

Although new roads and better mass transit are a salve, unless we’re OK with creating a Third World California, a reduction in the state’s population is the only real long-term solution.

Maria Fotopoulos

Los Angeles

Thank you very much for your article, particularly the advice and illustrations on driving techniques to reduce gridlock. In my experience, L.A. freeway driving is typified by speeding from stoppage to stoppage, by stomping on the gas and then braking hard. This lemming approach is counterproductive and risky. “Easy does it” and “less is more” apply.

One thing: Don’t seek to keep a large distance between yourself and the last stopped car, as the article suggests. Use this distance to keep rolling, timing the approach, keeping a safe distance only. The more people do this, the fewer accidents we will have and the faster we will get from A to B.

Robert Hagen

San Diego

Re “Letting gridlock loose,” June 9

Your very well-reported article on the connection between building developments and traffic congestion clearly means one thing -- if you build it, they will come.

We need to change from 1950s thinking of encouraging growth and development. That goal was achieved 25 years ago. Now we need to discourage more building, more people and more congestion.

Don’t build it, and they won’t come.

Manny Rodriguez

West Hollywood

Solving our energy problems

Re “Oil inflames U.S.-Saudi ties,” June 8

Contrary to popular belief, Saudi Arabia and OPEC are not responsible for America’s energy crisis. The vast increase in oil demand from China and India notwithstanding, far-left environmentalists, judicial activists and Democrat-dominated government are the obstructionists.

Indeed, if it were not for the self-righteous delusionists and nature’s la-la-landers preventing the development of domestic energy resources from protected areas (which few can even visit) for decades, we would not be in this mess. Renewable energy resources simply cannot produce the energy to sustain us in the foreseeable future. Corn ethanol is an unsustainable and costly failure. We must tap our own coal and oil resources and build refineries and nuclear power plants without delay. Stepping up oil production from Iraq would certainly help rebuild and secure Iraq and answer our immediate needs.

Daniel B. Jeffs

Apple Valley

So “ordinary Saudis like the idea of their nation’s added wealth” and won’t increase oil production. But they still expect a $1.4-billion arms deal? Why don’t we raise our price to $1.4 trillion and explain that it’s a simple case of supply and demand?

They have oil, we have guns. Welcome to the marketplace.

Gerald Wright

Los Angeles

Re “No letup for oil, no relief for drivers,” June 7

The profile of the price of oil says it all. The law of supply and demand is in action. The $140 barrel of oil and the $4.50 gallon of gasoline are just the beginning. The oil reserves of our planet are fixed and nonrenewable and are being depleted at a rapid rate. Geological statistics predict they will be depleted in about 30 years. We had better embark on in-depth research to develop post-petroleum fuels for transportation before the price of oil hits the stratosphere.

Reno S. Zack

San Dimas

Are we reliving the economic problems of 1970s, reconfigured for a new age?

I remember having to line up at the gas pump at 6 a.m. on alternate days to get enough gas to see me through until the next week -- if I drove carefully. I also remember visiting the grocery store and being appalled at seeing price sticker upon price sticker announcing huge increases on basic items.

Other than the soaring interest rates, I seem to be having deja vu.

Gail McClain

Laguna Beach

Former bishop should be heard

Re “Mahony asks bishop to drop tour for clergy-abuse book,” June 7

So Cardinal Roger Mahony and other bishops fear that former Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s talk in Los Angeles could be “a source of disunity and cause of confusion among the faithful of the particular churches we serve.” Why not allow the faithful to hear Robinson and discern for themselves what is truth, misinformation or “doctrinal difficulties”? Why not examine with him questions about the authority and power of the Catholic Church? Why not openly discuss the scandal of sexual abuse, which has been treated more with silence than with open disclosure in this archdiocese?

Openness in the Catholic Church can only lead to critical examination of the issues. Silencing the source of controversial views only confirms the misuse of power and authority in the church.

Lenore Navarro

Dowling

Los Angeles

At the urging of the Vatican, Mahony is trying to stop Robinson from speaking on the mishandling of the clergy sexual abuse scandal by the hierarchy, citing “disunity” if he speaks.

Emphasis on unity -- at the expense of the violations of Gospel values involved in abusing children and protecting the abusers -- is precisely the problem. Until the top-down, insular and unaccountable nature of the celibate clergy is modified, Gospel values will encounter difficulty in regaining their deserved priority.

John C. Nangle

Palm Springs

Never underestimate the power of Mahony. Like Moses allegedly parting the Red Sea, Mahony denies Robinson, author and chronicler of church sex abuse, permission to speak in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. With a wave of his pungent censer, he suspends the 1st Amendment right to free speech.

Maybe Mahony’s jealous because he didn’t write the book. He’s certainly familiar with the material. Next thing you know, he’ll deny Amazon the right to sell it.

Jack Bailey

Studio City

Happy to bear arms

Re “Have gun, will show it,” Column One, June 7

I’d like to comment favorably on The Times’ article. The Times portrayed a woefully underrepresented group of law-abiding people who choose to arm themselves for protection and to keep the tradition of personal arms alive in this country.

As pointed out in the article, these people are no more likely to harm anyone with their guns on than without, and they are exercising their rights -- something more of us should do.

Nathan Plant

Santa Clara

In the article, Utah’s Travis Deveraux says, “What we’re trying to say is, ‘Hey, we’re normal people who carry guns.’ ” Is it normal in Utah to fear for one’s safety so much that one needs to be perpetually and publicly armed? I thought we had progressed from the times of Wyatt Earp.

Arnie Moore

Sherman Oaks

Your article about people openly carrying pistols was full of color and sympathy for the nuisances suffered by today’s gunslingers, but it ignored the extreme dangers created by the practice.

What happens when an “open carrier” is tired, having a bad day, collides with someone on the sidewalk, and finds himself only two easy steps away from firing his weapon? What about when a criminal sneaks up behind with his own knife or pistol and steals that openly carried pistol? And how about when an open carrier blows cigarette smoke in your face or mine? Who’d dare to complain?

Whether open or concealed, carrying a firearm puts a person within easy reach of tragedy and provides no security one cannot obtain from nonlethal weapons such as mace or Tasers.

Mike Ceaser

Bogota, Colombia

Keep recruiters away from schools

Re “Activists seek to counter military recruiting pitch,” June 9

Most people have no idea that recruiters are on high school campuses, often talking to students without any adult presence. Recruiting is a high-pressure sales job that targets minors who lack information and alternatives and who are vulnerable to pitches by marketing firms.

This is a continuous thread from infancy to adulthood -- TV programs, print ads, the fatigues that toddlers wear. When youngsters say they don’t know why, but they want to join, we should question it. This is a predatory set-up of kids for the war machine. Easy in, impossible to get out. Military recruitment centers are everywhere. Parents can take their children any time to join up.

Recruiting in schools is secretive, deceptive and predatory. It deprives parents of their right to know what is happening to their children at school. Schools are supposed to benefit students. What is the benefit to students of these pressure techniques?

Maureen Cruise

Pacific Palisades