• GMO companies should leave Kaua‘i • Lewis ‘always does his homework’ GMO companies should leave Kaua‘i I attended the morning session of the council meeting March 20 and witnessed the air quality report presentation. I was embarrassed by the irresponsible lack
• GMO companies should leave Kaua‘i • Lewis ‘always does his homework’
GMO companies should leave Kaua‘i
I attended the morning session of the council meeting March 20 and witnessed the air quality report presentation. I was embarrassed by the irresponsible lack of substance.
This is people’s lives — their health, their children. How can any of us stay silent anymore? Our Westside ‘ohana is threatened. Cancer rates are rising. Go there. See the fields and how close they are to all the schools and homes — to the water.
These chemical companies have come onto our ‘aina quietly. They do not intend to stay. They are only here as long as it is easy and profitable for them. We have paved the way for that with incentives and tax breaks, by giving them our precious, most valuable land. We are allowing them to spray vast amounts of chemicals that seep into our water. They then leave this saturated soil uncovered to rise in the wind and further pollute our waters and breath into our lungs. They are performing experiments and we are part of their laboratory.
When they move on they will leave behind a legacy of destruction that will be ours to try and repair. They have done this over and over — even their sick employees are left behind. This is chemical and genetic destruction. It is also destruction of our economy. Imagine what is happening to property value on the Westside. Imagine what will happen to tourism when they realize Kaua‘i is a chemical test site. It is time to ask these chemical companies to leave our island.
GMO Free Kaua‘i made it possible for me to interview Dr. Lorrin Pang when he came to make a presentation to Waimea citizens in March. He is a world expert on tropical disease control. What he told me about the potentiation of chemicals when combined was alarming. And the genetic alteration information was almost beyond comprehension in its implications for the future — our children’s future and beyond. I have taken some of his clips and put them on my YouTube channel — it is a rough edit but certainly worth 10 minutes of your time. His pesticide potentiation information is at the end of it.
youtu.be/LmNtsTZIYwU
I thank you for the good work you are doing — for your courage. It is exciting to see Kaua‘i coming together. We have a really exciting future if we use this community spirit to build the kind of home we want to pass onto our children.
If we stay silent we are the ones to blame when our children’s children wonder why we took paradise and turned it into hell.
Leslie Larsen
Anahola
Lewis ‘always does his homework’
I find it amazing that Jan TenBruggencate, apparently acting in his capacity as vice chairman of the KIUC Board of Directors, chose to personally attack Walter Lewis in a letter to the forum.
Mr. TenBruggencate is a former journalist and he should realize that such personal attacks are totally inappropriate.
He is obviously very sensitive about Walter and perhaps he is upset with Walter’s other columns about KIUC, especially the recent one about using compressed natural gas to reduce our electric rates, which are probably the most expensive in the United States. In places like Colorado the rates are around 6 cents per kWh, while ours are currently about 47 cents per kWh.
I have known Walter for nearly 20 years and while we have not agreed on all issues, Walter has the highest integrity personally and is a very experienced attorney. I have enjoyed working with Walter as he always does his homework.
That is the primarily reason I find Mr. TenBruggencate’s implication that Walter did not read the Senate and House bills related to KIUC so disturbing. I will let you draw your own conclusions after reading a summary of two bills.
Chapter 269 of the Hawai‘i Revised Statues is a very long and comprehensive document. I suggest anyone questioning Walter read the chapter.
KIUC has a long and storied history starting with an attempt by the initial group to pay an exorbitant price to Citizens Utilities for the company. This was later reduced, but still the price was considered by experts in the field to be well in excess of the value of the utility.
They also reportedly paid too much for the plant initiated by Kaua‘i Power Partners.
Further, while I am not sure on this, some of the rate cost may still be related to recovering the ‘Iniki damage costs which Citizens had not covered with appropriate insurance.
And finally, I don’t believe KIUC has the leeway to purchase their fuel competitively like airlines and other large fuel users.
For the record I have personal issues with KIUC, including a failure to follow up when I reported erratic voltage fluctuations on my service and not receiving the remote smart meter monitor that I signed up for under the quota and was advised that I would receive. Still patiently waiting on both issues.
John Gordon
Princeville
