• Where would world be without shearwaters? • Responsible dog owners • KPD should pay attention to speeders Where would world be without shearwaters? As much as I am in favor of saving the environment from man’s obvious quest to
• Where would world be without shearwaters? • Responsible dog owners • KPD should pay attention to speeders
Where would world be without shearwaters?
As much as I am in favor of saving the environment from man’s obvious quest to destroy it, I have to question the validity of the environmentalists who insist that certain animals are on the verge of extinction. The question is, “extinct” where?
I was watching the National Geographic channel late one night, a month or so ago. The documentary they were showing was about an island somewhere off the coast of Australia. It’s just a small, uninhabited island where, at a certain time of every year the “shearwaters” all migrate back to that island for one reason or another. We’re talking millions of them. So many that every square inch of the island is covered with them. So many that they actually fight each other to the death to conquer a space on the island for themselves. I have to wonder if these are the same “shearwaters” that some are trying so desperately to protect on Kaua‘i. Oh, maybe the “shearwaters” here on Kaua‘i have a slightly generic difference or maybe they have an “H” on their chest. I don’t know. I’m not a “professional” environmentalist. But I do know that man will continue to survive without them. Perhaps better.
Now I’m sure that all the “professional” environmentalists will be writing to correct me on this matter and that’s just fine. They may be able to convince the politicians that they are “professional” environmentalists and that they need so much money from the government to fight for their cause (whatever it may be). But they will never convince me that the survival of certain species of animals is imperative to the survival to man.
Ask yourself these questions:
Why is it that the island of Kaua‘i is the only island that does not yet have power generating windmills?
Why is it that the island of Kaua‘i, the “wettest spot on earth,” is not at least on 90 percent “hydroelectric power?”
If these same environmentalists, the ones that are making a living off of our tax dollars, the ones that have so easily “convinced” our politicians that THEY are the “professionals” and that THEY know what THEY are talking about, were around a few million years ago, we would still have huge dinosaurs walking on earth. Of course there would not be any humans around because we would all have been eaten up.
Of all the candidates running for County Council and for governor, and for all the other important offices, I wonder which of them are in favor of putting these radical environmentalists in their place and are in favor of doing something FOR the people instead of doing things to gain funds from certain contributors.
So many people are talking about this. So many people on this island feel the same way I do but no one wants to say anything about it. Well, someone had to say it, so there!
Larry Arruda, Lihu‘e
Responsible dog owners
I have never written a letter to the editor before, but seeing the picture of LaBedz and its caption as part of an article about her run for mayor struck a chord.
The caption is: “Diana LaBedz of Kekaha has pulled papers to run for Kaua‘i mayor. Here she is with dog Buddha on a Kekaha beach.”
First of all, I thought no dogs are allowed on our beaches. Plus, you can clearly see that her dog is not on a leash nor is there even a collar to hook one. She is going to run for mayor but doesn’t follow the law of the land?
I was just in a discussion on this same subject with someone who is on-island for business and who is thinking about relocating his family here. He asked about the dog situation on beaches because he noticed that almost every beach he has been to, there is someone there with a dog.
He said, “I thought no dogs are allowed on the beaches.” Lydgate is a good example. It will be interesting to see if there are fewer dogs there now that it is the one area of the bike path that won’t allow dogs. There have always been dogs there and down further (south of the rainbow bridge), both leashed and unleashed, even though as you drive into the parking area you pass a (faded) sign that says “No Dogs Allowed.”
Don’t get me wrong … I love dogs! I just love them more when their owners are responsible and respect others and the law of the land.
Kaye DeFranceaux Leonard, Lihu‘e
KPD should pay attention to speeders
Three cheers for the KPD! Today’s front page of TGI (“123 drivers cited for violating new cell phone law,” July 20) boasts that 123 citations have been written for the criminals that were caught operating cell phones while operating a moving vehicle. I am glad the KPD is out there making the world a safer place for us all to live and making big bucks for the state as well.
If they really want to score they should head out to the Westside. For a couple of weeks now there has been this parade of huge trucks screaming up and down the Kam (Kaumuali‘i) highway going to and from the landfill. Some with yellow, white and black cabs. With names like “Wayne’s Enterprises,” “Wally Wright” and “O Thronas” on the door. Speed limit is posted at 35 mph in residential areas in Kekaha. I have clocked them consistently doing 45-48 in the 35-mph zone. It’s my opinion that commercial trucks of this type should be doing 25 mph in residential areas. How can it be that the KPD has the ability to miss these huge, noisy, speeders but have the ability to see these tiny little cell phones in the hands of private citizens?
Amazing. Keep up the good job.
Rick O’Shea, Kekaha
