• My ferry fight • KIUC explores power possibilities • Garbage truck blues • Obama won’t help Hawai‘i, McCain will My ferry fight I’d like to set the record straight in response to Stan Godes’ letter (“I’d like to sail
• My ferry fight
• KIUC explores power possibilities
• Garbage truck blues
• Obama won’t help Hawai‘i, McCain will
My ferry fight
I’d like to set the record straight in response to Stan Godes’ letter (“I’d like to sail the channel again,” Letters, Sept. 27).
Godes, among other things, questions the true intentions of “the backers of the boycott” on the Superferry. Since I started boycottsuperferry.org and spent several thousand dollars of my own money on this cause, I’d like to state my true intent, and it’s in the subhead of my site: “Holding Reverence of Life and Stewardship of this Land.”
My involvement in this cause has been 100 percent altruistic. My own business would financially benefit from Superferry, yet I hold for it being an environmentally responsible ship truly caring of its Kauaian impacts. I’ve bitten the bullet knowing that my personal convenience is outweighed by the generations of damage that boat can do without protective restrictions in place.
I don’t have a secret deal with Superferry competitors, a vendetta, or am I anti-O‘ahu. I have what I believe is a Hawaiian heart in a Caucasian body. I’m willing to be patient, to do an EIS right for everyone, at the expense of my personal convenience, or a nostalgic wish to ride the waves at someone else’s future cost.
• John Cragg, Anahola
KIUC explores power possibilities
On Sept. 29, a handful of residents gathered at the Veterans Center to get some updated information from Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative.
With focused power-point presentations followed by questions and responses, it is evident that KIUC has multi-faceted considerations and approaches to lessen our dependency on imported fossil fuel.
That being said, the dilemma we have in being charged the highest electric utility bills in the nation will remain indefinitely. There are options, however, that can and should be considered. Wal-Mart and the Hyatt, for instance, have installed their own photovoltaic systems. KIUC itself is also exploring the extent to which hydroelectric power can be maximized. KIUC is also looking into harnessing solar power out in Kekaha.
Likewise, resident members of the community organization in Kekaha have taken the initiative to explore the realm of possibilities in the arena of alternative-energy delivery systems that are on the horizon nationwide. A petition is being circulated islandwide focusing on the possibility of lowering our monthly utility bills by reducing our dependency on imported fossil fuel yet maintaining the delivery systems to meet the demand for energy. It is our way of being proactively involved in the process of seeking solutions. It is our way of searching for viable renewable energy approaches that will maintain and enhance KIUC’s capabilities at affordable rates. We applaud KIUC for its stalwart efforts. At the same time, when and where there may be other options that have not heretofore been considered by KIUC, it is our hope and desire that this alternative plan be seriously considered on behalf of all of us struggling to pay the current rate charges that continue to escalate.
•Jose Bulatao Jr. , Kekaha
Garbage truck blues
The purpose of this letter is to express rage and frustration at the lack of consideration given to the people of Kapahi by the county.
Before the sun has even cast its gray morning rays into the sky, the garbage truck is waking the whole neighborhood. This thunderous, screeching machine takes enough time making its way around my block every Tuesday morning to fully wake me from much needed rest. Not to mention my fiance, who works outside with his body all day.
It’s just not reasonable to have to go to bed at 8 p.m. because one must get enough rest before the garbage truck makes its rounds.
The people on my block who rise before the sun are not those who go to work and make this island run. They are the elderly and the stay-at-home moms.
I lay my bones down by 10 p.m. and rise by 6 a.m. I am a practical woman, but I cannot be the only one seething at this disregard for the working people.
Maybe those running for council and mayor could take this issue to heart.
• Whitne Drake, Kapa‘a
Obama won’t help Hawai‘i, McCain will
Senator Gary Hooser wrote recently that Hawai‘i-born Sen. Barack Obama will be a help to Hawai‘i if he wins the presidency. My question to Sen. Hooser, and all of the other Hawai‘i residents so enamored with an empty message of hope, is what has Sen. Obama done for Hawai‘i thus far?
Though he is Hawai‘i-born, Barack Obama has shown no connection to the people of Hawai‘i other than enjoying a relaxing vacation on our beaches. Outside of his immediate family, no one in Hawai‘i knows the senator from Illinois. He hasn’t worked to establish a connection with our residents, doesn’t understand the issues that face us as an isolated island chain, and won’t be placing Hawai‘i on any “special favors” list if he takes the Oval Office.
On the other hand, the McCain-Palin ticket is aware of our key issues.
Senator McCain’s military experience and his family’s previous stations in Hawai‘i give him a key perspective into our connection with the military as part of our ‘ohana. As the leader of the only other non-contiguous state, Gov. Palin understands intimately the struggles of being isolated from the continental U.S.
A McCain-Palin administration would align with us on key issues of energy independence, an issue that will define our success for generations to come.
More importantly, the McCain-Palin ticket will give Hawai‘i a greater voice in Washington. Our current administration has a direct line to both the senator and governor, soon-to-be president and vice president.
Obama on the other hand, has never reached out to the governor of our state, not even once. Does he even know who she is?
Question answered when Obama couldn’t even pronounce the name of his “good friend,” the mayor of Honolulu.
Though we can be proud of our transplanted “native son,” I think the analysis of what benefits his candidacy brings Hawai‘i should run a bit deeper than just his birth certificate.
•Ralph Winnie Jr., Kailua, O‘ahu
