You know that popularity for their idea has sunk pretty low when the City of Marysville and the Snohomish County executive resort to trying to convince people that a NASCAR racetrack is good for the environment. The Herald reports that proponents call it an “environmental bonanza.” Is it good for the environment to have 40 cars racing around at 200 mph for several hours, burning up gasoline?

The racetrack was supposed to be good for the economy, but then the county executive admitted it would only bring about 50 full-time jobs once construction was completed, so there goes that benefit. Now they say that it will be good for the environment because it will keep them from paving over 500 acres. If they really care about the environment, they would just leave those 500 acres alone. If they need economic development, why not put businesses that provide real jobs on 350 acres, instead of a racetrack, leaving 500 acres of open grassland?

So, what is the credibility of those saying it would be good for the environment? That would be Marysville and the county executive’s office, who have pushed this fiasco from day one, as well as a commercial real estate broker. We shouldn’t trust their interpretation of what is good for the environment. We are much wiser to listen to the reality of the spokesman from 1000 Friends of Washington who says, “Be wary of a sales pitch.”

This whole proposal has been nothing but a fantasy sales pitch, full of empty promises. How long before our Northwest rains would require that those grass parking lots (that are supposed to be good for the environment) be paved over? Let’s save $200 million in taxpayer money and protect our environment by saying no to a racetrack.

WALTER A. TAUBENECK

Marysville