According to many, the U.S. economy is in a perilous state. At the root of this evil? The high price of oil.

Unfortunately, the people most harmed by this torrent of raises in price on the cost of living are those people on the lowest end of our income scale.

How to fix this? There are many reasons why we’re faced with the inflationary evil.

It’s George Bush’s fault, or Saudia Arabia’s, or the Arabs in general. It’s the American love affair with the auto, etc.

You and I could go a long way toward fixing the problem — if we were to all drive 55 mph maximum, as opposed to the 65 posted limit in most states, or 75 and 80, as some do.

Better yet, how about this? Congress would establish a 55-mph limit on all of us. Won’t happen, you say? I agree. This is an election year, because the “ins” don’t want the “outs” to take credit for doing something right, and vice-versa.

If some are prone to say democracy doesn’t work, well, they’re right. Democracy only works if you and I make it work.

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If you crunch the numbers, you’ll find that a reduction in our speed limit from 65 to 55 mph would give us an almost two-mile-per-gallon improvement — or a 10-percent reduction — in amount of fossil fuels we now exhaust. I couldn’t resist the play on words.

Gene M. Lewis

Nipomo

July 24, 2008