• Moloa‘a Bay Ranch permits • Meat of the matter • Climate change science • Who’s to blame? Moloa‘a Bay Ranch permits I hope people are concerned about the after-the-fact permits being sought by Moloa‘a Bay Ranch for a reservoir
• Moloa‘a Bay Ranch permits
• Meat of the matter
• Climate change science
• Who’s to blame?
Moloa‘a Bay Ranch permits
I hope people are concerned about the after-the-fact permits being sought by Moloa‘a Bay Ranch for a reservoir near the edge of a bluff, an 8-foot tall retaining rock wall and pump house which were all constructed without permits in the Special Management Area.
The reservoir/pond is situated too close to the edge of a bluff. Any overflows caused by accidents or acts of nature would negatively impact the lower elevation SMA land and coastal waters. The reservoir should be removed.
The proposed planting plan is far beyond an acceptable scope. More than 250 new coconut palms which will alter the scenic hills which are designated a Heritage Resource and Important Land Form in the General Plan.
Minimal intervention is best for the dry coastal vegetation that tolerates these steep slopes and windy coastal conditions. No landscaping beyond the original DLNR approved re-forestation plan of 41 trees should be permitted.
MBR’s request to top and trim every ironwood tree is ludicrous. Reducing the shade has accelerated the spread of lantana, a more serious invasive shrub. Dense layers of ironwood needles allow rainwater to run off without disturbing the soil beneath. Erosion was only a problem when MBR removed 126 ironwood trees and the hillside gave way in 2002. Since then, the land has healed.
Future land use plans for this parcel have not been disclosed and permits should not be considered until a comprehensive map of all existing improvements in this TMK is presented. For example, electrical permits have been granted and 10 building permit applications were processed (although withdrawn prior to this SMA process). So it appears that the $180,000 proposed landscaping will directly benefit the views of the future homeowners uphill.
Moloa‘a is a beautiful and culturally sensitive area. The piecemeal approach of permitting is not appropriate. Today, commissioners can preserve this significant undeveloped coastal area by denying the applicant’s request for after-the-fact permits and the far too elaborate landscaping plan.
Pat Tingley
Wailua
Meat of the matter
I hope that Walt Barnes’ article in the Sunday paper about climate change was an eye opener to a lot of us (“Climate change science hard to ignore,” A7, Nov. 25).
He writes about the science of climate change. Also, in the last few years we have seen and heard a lot about climate change and other environmental issues. Often, these have been centered on reducing the burning of fossil fuels, making autos energy efficient, creating alternate energy through solar and wind power, planting more trees and much more. However, we have not addressed the issue of the meat consumption. Isn’t it time to do so?
Studies have shown that animal protein production requires more than eight times as much fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein. According to the USDA, growing crops for farm animals takes up more than 50 percent of our water supply and 80 percent of our agricultural land. Animals raised in the U.S. for food consume 90 percent of our soy crop, 80 percent of our corn crop and 70 percent of our grains. Then there are issues like methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and other greenhouse gas emissions which are the by-products of the cattle industry. We are polluting the world by eating meat.
Also, there is the element of cruelty to animals. Even some people who love their pets do not think for a moment about the cruelty inflicted on the animals that are killed for food. Some environmentalists have not thought about eliminating meat from their diet.
The U.N.’s FAO says that global livestock sector generates 18 percent more greenhouse gas than the entire global transportation system. Yet meat consumption has gone up by more more than three times in the last 50 years.
Isn’t it time for all of us to change our food habits? It’s time to solve this issue like any environmental issue. Today we have very many meatless tasty food choices. We should all try to change for the benefit of our future generations.
Vi Herbert
Kilauea
Climate change science
hard to ignore
Where did the author get this ‘fact’ that satellite data shows the earth is warming (“Climate change science hard to ignore,” A7, Nov. 25)?
Leslie Bester
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Who’s to blame?
Ever get tired of the division that constantly eats away at our tiny island of Kaua‘i? Ever wonder who’s really to blame? There’s always a lot of news print pointing the finger toward newcomers, developers, haoles, big boxes, etc, for all, if not most, of Kaua‘i’s problems.
I believe the one issue that displays the most unity on Kaua‘i is the issue of keeping our island as rural as possible. I feel most of us would like to preserve a semblance of rural-ness that reflects our agricultural heritage along with a more serene, laid back, less crowded community laced with aloha in our daily lives be it at work, at play, on our roadways, in our schools or just next door to our neighbors.
But, alas, this picture of 20 years ago does not seem possible, maybe because of all the changes that have taken place over the past two decades assisted by the abovementioned outside influences.
What is the real cause for this community division? What force or forces have transformed our farm lands into asphalt lands? Our beach fronts into battle fronts? Our schools into police protected indoctrination institutes? Our neighborhoods into drug hoods? Our country roads into congested substandard roadways? Our “mama and papa” stores into mega markets? Our pineapple and sugar fields into vacation/golfing/residential developments? Our small community dumps into a gigantic mountain of contaminated landfill waste? And to top it all off, a governing body that stole “the people’s” property tax relief Ohana Kaua‘i Charter Amendment “Victory vote” in the 2004 General Election, raiding votes from the electoral process and throwing them into the judicial process? Who really made all this possible? Who is really stealing our rights, freedoms and liberties?
It must have been those folks who were elected to office, hired to create rules and regulations and paid to enforce them, the laws, which allowed these devastating, divisional changes to take place. It must have been those “newcomers, developers, haoles, big box, etc.,” politicians elected to office to lead our community down the right path preserving what “the people” wanted.
Oops … I must be wrong. I don’t know of any “newcomer, developers, haoles, big box, politicians, etc.” being elected to office to run our county, our state.
Correct me if I am wrong but are not the overwhelmingly vast majority of our elected officials of local ancestry? Are they to blame? But no, they cannot be because who put them into office with their votes? It was a small minority of registered voters that vote in a bloc every election guaranteeing that certain local candidates get into office to be plied, wooed, and influenced to make laws that divide our community, coupled with a very large majority of registered voters that stayed home or went to the beach and did not vote. It’s not hard to figure out; if you don’t vote you’re voting for the incumbents.
If you really want a united community working toward the betterment of the majority of “the people,” then live up to your responsibility of being a citizen of this state and vote in new elected officials that will protect that which is most dear to you, hopefully your family and kids, not a day off. Elect at least four to five new council members next election and let’s take back our council, our government, our lives.
John Hoff
Lawa‘i
