Letters for Monday, July 2, 2012

• Reduce carbon footprint by converting to hydro • Justice Roberts honored true role with decision • Shape up, Walmart

Change in online commenting policy

Starting July 1, The Garden Island has changed how it monitors the online commenting portion of thegardenisland.com. All comments will go through an approval process. Not all comments will be approved. Priority will be given to those that are topical, remain within our comment policies and contain the author’s full name and hometown. 

We encourage continued use of our online comment feature as well as the Letters to the Editor in our print edition. The Garden Island values reader input and encourages thoughtful debate.

Reduce carbon footprint by converting to hydro

In reading the recent articles (“Kaua’i sets pace for electric cars” and “Making Kaua’i a leader in reducing carbon”) in TGI on the use of electric cars to reduce the carbon footprint, it has raised several questions.

The use of photovoltaic (PV) systems is a large step to reducing energy dependence on oil, but it has its drawbacks and they are as follows:

1) PV works only when the sun is shining so there is a need for a powerful back-up system that depends upon expensive lithium batteries and/or oil fired generators.

2) The lithium batteries are expensive to manufacture and lose their usefulness in two or three years whether they are used or not.  

3) The most efficient use of oil is to directly burn it in an internal combustion engine and not convert it to electricity to run an electric car.

4) The charge time for an electric car has been reduced from 8 hours to 30 minutes which is quite a reduction but it is still 30 minutes as opposed to 5 or 10 minutes for a fill up of gas.

5) There will always be a need for a power infrastructure (generators, power lines, substations, transformers, etc.) and a skilled workforce to maintain it that is considered a fixed cost. The cost of a grid system does not change even if fewer people use it, which means that it will become more expensive for those who still need to be on it, such as businesses that require the use of power-consuming motors (sewage treatment plants, water treatment plants, pumping stations for water supply, auto shops, cabinet shops, etc).

 The obvious solution to reducing the carbon footprint of Kaua’i is to convert the source of fuel that generates electricity from oil to hydro. We live on an island that has high elevations with an abundance of rain that falls on these high elevations (two requirements for hydroelectric). The potential energy that flows to the ocean is sufficient to not only power our island but the other islands as well.

There is a small hydro plant that was installed in 1904 on Powerhouse Road (hence the name of the road) that produces all the electricity for the power consumption of Kaua’i Coffee. The surplus from this hydro plant is sold to KIUC.   

The people of Kaua’i are paying some of the highest cost per kw in the country. The use of hydro would change that cost to one of the lowest in the country. The use of hydro would make us a potential exporter of electricity instead of a heavy importer of oil.

David K. Giuliano

Princeville

Justice Roberts honored true role with decision

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts deserves real recognition for upholding the health care law not just because he made the right decision on behalf of poor and sick people who will benefit from this law, but because he gave real Americans a tiny shred of hope that our government system isn’t completely flawed beyond repair.

The Supreme Court was never meant to be a tool for political gain one way or the other. But in the last dozen years it has become a partisan entity making decisions based on the political leanings of the president and party responsible for appointing each of the individual justices.

Chief Justice Roberts, who adamantly opposed most of the health care law, amazingly made the right decision by essentially passing the final outcome of this law back to Congress, rather than tainting the high court with another decision based on the political leanings of the majority of its justices.

As a progressive, I believe a single payer system is the best way for the U.S. to finally equal almost every other westernized nation that has achieved the level of awareness that recognizes health care is a basic human right.

But the law, which makes neither progressives or so called “conservatives” happy, is not a decision for the Supreme Court to decide. It’s their job to interpret laws, not make policy.

Thank you, John Roberts, for honoring the true role of your position. You have earned my respect, the respect of a real American.

Jason Nichols

Lawai

Shape up, Walmart

Walmart is the richest company in America. It has topped the Fortune 500 list seven times this past decade. Its total revenues average $421 billion yearly. If Walmart were a country it would have the 25th largest economy in between prosperous Taiwan and modern Norway.

Let’s get beyond Walmart’s phony patriotism and “yankee doodle dandy.” CEO Mike Dukes pulls down an average of $35 million a year. Compare this to the nationwide average of its “associates” who only make $10 to $12 per hour. Yet these bosses have the audacity to cut full-time worker’s hours from 40 down to 33, 34 hours a week and still label it full time.

Walmart can do this because they have working class communities by the throat. Because there is no national  organization behind them, the workers are rightfully afraid. For speaking up they can be disciplined or fired. If  union organizing goes on, Walmart pulls up and leaves.  

They want every associate to just accept it and sigh, “At least I have a job.”  Well, the slaves had jobs too. Every worker deserves a decent wage and needed benefits like medical, especially if their employer can afford it. We also should be able to speak up against any injustice that happens on the job. It’s a simple human right.

Come on, Kaua‘i’s politicians, how about calling Walmart and telling them not to cut anyone’s hours. Shoppers can do the same. Also, check out online “Walmart workers speak out.”

Ray Catania, Puhi

James Alalem, Wailua