• On special session solution • Along for the ride • Superferry not enemy • This is America On special session solution OK, so let me see if I’ve got this right. The Hawai‘i State Supreme Court ruled that an
• On special session solution
• Along for the ride
• Superferry not enemy
• This is America
On special session solution
OK, so let me see if I’ve got this right. The Hawai‘i State Supreme Court ruled that an Environmental Impact Statement was indeed required for the Superferry to operate, and that the exemption they had been granted by the Department of Transportation was simply erroneous.
Now a Circuit Court Judge on Maui just ruled that this EA/EIS must be completed prior to the ferry beginning inter-island passenger ferry service. Which, of course, is only right. So, what does our esteemed governor see as the solution? She wants to call a special session of the Legislature to change our environmental laws.
After what she experienced on Kaua‘i a couple weeks ago at the Superferry “meeting,” I’m surprised she still wants to “shove it down our throats.” All we ask is that the governor respect the judge’s rulings, based on good current environmental laws, and let the EA/EIS process be completed. Our Executive and the Legislature should not be tools of one private business entity, such as the Superferry.
Erik Coopersmith
Waimea
Along for the ride
While watching Channel 2 news last night, Oct. 9 at 10 p.m., there were some hostile comments against Maui and Kaua‘i people. There was an elderly lady, (who I quote) “Kaua‘i and Maui can go to hell.”
Now how embarrassing is that?
All you Superferry protesters, be very proud. Now all of us can go to hell along with you.
Howard Tolbe
‘Ele‘ele
Superferry not enemy
This is ridiculous … where’s the aloha?
When did the Neighbor Islands, namely Kaua‘i and Maui, develop this anti-everything mentality? Stopping the Superferry is not going to stop growth and development — the Superferry is not the enemy. If you want to stop growth and development on Kaua‘i then rezone all your remaining real estate to Conservation and ban all new building permits.
As far as using the EIS requirement as a ploy to kill the Superferry, “Yeah right.” This is not about the environment, whales, or harbor improvements. This is about a separatist, parochial, isolationist mentality of a few people who want zero change.
If this is really about the environment and whales then what about those huge Norwegian, Matson, and Young Brothers tug boat propellers — they can cause far more serious whale injuries by cutting right through the whales. The Superferry is waterjet powered, no propellers. Also, the Superferry will have four spotters on board to watch out for whales. Are Norwegian, Matson and Young Bros. doing that?
Spreading invasive species? How do you think the ones that are there now got there? Not by the Superferry, but by current transportation methods.
More traffic from the Superferry? Guess what, when we O‘ahu people come to Kaua‘i and Maui now on an airplane, we rent a car. If we bring our car over on the Superferry, we will not rent a car. Net traffic increase is zero.
You say the Superferry will allow more “undesirable elements” to travel to Kaua‘i and Maui? Guess what … airline fares of $9, $19 and even $39 are much less expensive than the Superferry’s regular fare. Those same “undesirable elements” can buy a cheap airplane ticket more easily than a Superferry ticket. And speaking of airlines, let’s make go! Airlines go get an EIS too.
The Superferry is good for Kaua‘i and Maui too. It will allow small businesses based there to more easily and less expensively do business on O‘ahu. Kaua‘i and Maui contractors can now do jobs on O‘ahu easily with their own vehicles and tools, not having to ship everything separately and ahead of time. People who live on the Neighbor Islands and commute to Honolulu will now be able to bring their cars with them to O‘ahu and will have another option other than air. You can come over to O‘ahu to shop for the weekend, fill up your own car and go back home with all your stuff in your car. The only way to get your own vehicles back and forth between the Neighbor Islands and O‘ahu now is via barge for hundreds of dollars and two weeks lead time. The Superferry will also allow another method of evacuation and disaster recovery if ever needed between islands.
Let’s call this what it really is, using the EIS process to stop change. And who are the people that so badly want to stop the Superferry from changing Kaua‘i and Maui? Were they born and raised there or did they move there and now don’t want anyone else to come after “they got theirs”?
Anyone who has moved to Kaua‘i or Maui to live there in recent years has directly contributed to the growth and development problems by increasing the population. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
Or is this really about protecting existing business from new competition and lower transportation costs that the Superferry will enable? Why do you think everything is so much more expensive on the Neighbor Islands? Much of it has to be trans-shipped via barge from Honolulu.
And as far as expense, if the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruling disallowing the EIS exemption forces the Superferry to leave, we Hawai‘i taxpayers (yes, Neighbor Islands included) will have to pay back the $40 million plus in Superferry bonds.
Let’s join together as the state of Hawaii with the aloha spirit and make this Superferry successful. It really is a good thing for all the people of Hawai‘i.
Dale Moyen
Kapolei, O‘ahu
This is America
To the vocal minority who are violently opposed to the Superferry.
Please stop saying you speak for the majority.
You may not have gotten into many arguments lately, but I’m guessing that this may have something to do with the news footage that is shown repeatedly of you terrorizing the people at Nawiliwili who wanted to use the Superferry. This is America. People have a right to start and run a business. The free enterprise system very quickly shows if the majority want it or not. If they don’t, the business fails and closes. Your lame excuses that the Superferry will interfere with your surfing or paddling doesn’t hold up. How many minutes a day would it actually get in your way? And are you saying that the cruise ships and the container barges don’t get in the way? And there are many other beaches and bays around our island that have no boat traffic. Asking for an environmental impact statement before the Superferry can run is just another bogus excuse to stop it. An environmental impact study done before the ferry runs would only be a “guess” as to its impact. If you really want to know what impact it will have, you have to let it run and do a before-and-after study. I am disappointed in judges who worry about trying to be politically correct and in legislators who won’t stand up for the rights of the majority of Hawai‘i citizens who want the Superferry … and … in the police who did not make proper arrests of those who vandalized and terrorized innocent customers of the Superferry. Lastly, if you feel you must protest something, do it in a safe, legal manner without putting your fellow Kauaians in jeopardy … or better yet utilize the free enterprise system and just don’t use the ferry. If you’re right … if you speak for most, the Superferry will go out of business from lack of customers.
Mark Huff
Kapa‘a
