Traffic seems to be the focus of increasing attention throughout the nation as Americans become more and more frustrated with countless hours spent in bumper to bumper traffic that seems to go nowhere.

A whole section of the Nassau County Master Plan was dedicated to addressing the overflowing roadways in the county. The Village of Garden City was successful in fighting the expansion of the Roosevelt Field Mall before the Town's Zoning Board of Appeals, arguing that the traffic generated by the growth of the mall was already adversely impacting the quality of life in the surrounding area.

In Village Hall last week residents debated whether or not more parking is needed to accommodate the traffic generated by office buildings, restaurants, and medical complexes.

Whether or not the Village of Garden City needs more parking spaces is a matter for the Planning Commission to decide, although it is interesting to note that many business communities on Long Island are flourishing with far less available parking.

The issue we as a society need to not only pay lip service to during political campaigns and on Earth Day once a year, but truly work into our minds and mode of living, is how we can decrease traffic to save the environment.

As weather men issue ozone alerts and people hide in air conditioned homes, we are collectively experiencing the repercussions of a stressed planet. We must recognize that the Earth has a finite amount of resources and that between overpopulation and an unwillingness to change our wasteful behavior we are damaging our shared home.

The popularity of sport utility vehicles and mini vans couldn't be more apparent than in any parking lot on Long Island. They transport all of our stuff. They look nice. They also are tremendously bad for the environment, but we have again become lax about environmental concerns in this country.

For every 124,000 miles driven by the Chevy Suburban it will put out 115 tons of carbon dioxide. The new Ford Excursion to be introduced to the market shortly will put out 134 tons of carbon dioxide in a 124,000 mile lifetime. The Ford Taurus puts out 64 tons; the Honda CBR motorcycle puts out 42 tons; the Honda Civic HX puts out 40 tons; the Toyota Prius, not yet available in the US puts out 27 tons.

The county has pointed to its bus service as a means of addressing the issue of traffic and pollution. In an informal poll conducted for this editorial, not one person polled had anything positive to say about the bus system in any part of the US and most people said they'd take a cab before they'd take the bus. The cab option certainly doesn't aid the traffic reduction cause.

So what do we do? Raising emission standards is one way to cut some of the pollution. Corporate ride share incentives might help. Dramatic changes in all forms of public transportation could make a tremendous difference.

An HOV lane was built on the LIE to encourage carpooling and it stands empty most of the time. The question then becomes do we legislate change and force people to change their behavior and how is this accomplished without violating fundamental personal freedom? In order to accomplish change we will all have to collectively sacrifice some comfort and change our habits.

This week on page one is a story about Garden City High School graduate Susan Alzner who is currently riding at least 2,000 miles to raise funds and awareness for environmental projects. If she can hop on a bicycle and ride from Atlanta to the Grand Canyon, we can all try and walk a little more and drive a little less. Leave the gas guzzling, carbon dioxide spewing vehicles in the garage and dust off the bike. We can certainly look at transportation alternatives and pressure the automobile industry to build more Earth friendly cars with alternative fuels. We can all vote for candidates who have records of making the environment a real priority.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Think globally and act locally. Make these more than slogans we dust off now and then.

ASE