State has right to expect good energy future plan

Regarding the proposed takeover of HECO by NextEra: What I care about is that someone comes up with a good plan for the transformation of Hawaii’s energy sector, with the details fairly shared.

Everyone knows that we must replace HECO’s fossil fuel portfolio with greater efficiency and more renewables. However, no one has convincingly detailed what the new portfolio should look like. HECO has dragged its feet on this issue for almost a decade. NextEra might be more proactive, but it won’t tell us what its plan is.

In the merger docket, NextEra is asking that the state grant it a valuable privilege, namely, approval to operate as a monopoly. I believe that privilege shouldn’t be granted until NextEra offers the state what it has a right to expect from its electric utility: a good plan for achieving the state’s renewable energy goals and lowering the price of electricity.

Jonathan Ching

Kakaako

Syrian refugees here could deter tourists

Hawaii has a homeless problem that has directly affected tourism.

Hawaii also has a homeless veteran problem and Syrian refugees would cause a hostile debate. Many combat military personnel and/or combat veterans might take exception to Syrian Muslim refugees. Why don’t the rich Muslim countries take in their desperate fellow Muslims?

Can we allow the Christian Syrians to relocate to Hawaii? After all, they are persecuted within and outside of Syria.

East Coast tourists might not come to Hawaii if they feel that Hawaii harbors Syrian refugees who might be terrorists.

The East Coast still has not recovered from 9/11.

And who pays for all of this ?

It is not the federal or state governments. It is we, the people.

Keoni R. May

McCully-Moiliili

Homeless camps should be dismantled quickly

“Sweeps” of homeless camps, costing us a lot of money, are a disgusting symptom of a spineless, headless government.

Why are government officials waiting and watching while the homeless build illegal structures and homeless camps against all laws?

Why are the Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Gov. David Ige administrations waiting for things to turn from bad to worse instead of ordering the taking down of any unlawful tents and structures the moment they appear?

Volker Hildebrandt

Kaneohe

‘Fear’ of Syrian refugees not really irrational

This letter is to refute the false narrative (i.e. “xenophobia”) being directed at conservatives for being against the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the U.S.

The word “phobia” infers fear. I, personally, do not fear terrorists.

What I do fear is stupidity in high places. A low-ball estimate is that one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population are radicalized jihadi. That’s two out of 10. To put it simply: If I gave you 10 grapes, and I told you that two of them were poisoned, would you eat any?

Our governor needs to decide, once and for all, for whom does he work. Is it the residents of the state of Hawaii or the Democratic Party?

Michael Rodrigues

Kakaako

State messes up again and public loses out

Oh boy! The Thirty Meter Telescope fiasco is the Hawaii Superferry all over again.

Once again, the state cut corners to get what it wanted, without following the rules.

Incompetence or disrespect? Either way the public loses. That’s a shame.

Lunsford Phillips

Kailua