Fuel costs of overweight

A couple of University of Illinois researchers have calculated that the hefty weight gain piled up by Americans since 1960 consumes an extra billion gallons of gasoline per year. The heavier we are or the more junk we haul around in our cars, the worse gas mileage we get.

Does that mean we don't need to drill for new crude in the pristine Artic National Wildlife Refuge? We just need to shed pounds and clean out our trunks?

So which is easier? Right. Drill in ANWR. The average American male in 2002 weighed 191 pounds; the average American female, 164 pounds -- 25 pounds heavier than in 1960.

The same economics apply to airline fuel costs -- the heavier the passengers, the more fuel burned up. Those extra costs are passed along to all ticket-buyers, including skinny ones. In August Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein told the Enquirer editorial board that every dollar increase in fuel price per barrel costs Delta $80 million. He didn't say how much passengers' extra tonnage costs Delta, but I bet some economist is working on it. Do you think someday airline passengers will be charged extra for "packing" excess poundage on their persons?