DOE policy ignores transgender students

The state Department of Education apparently hasn’t heard that discrimination against our transgender ohana in our public schools will not be accepted by the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Education regulators have warned schools that they could lose federal funding if they discriminate against transgender students.

Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon have already implemented or released trans-positive guidelines. They have requirements like: allowing transgender females to play girls’ sports and transgender boys to wear tuxedos to prom, and requiring school leaders to use transgender students’ preferred names, even if that differs from a legal name.

Instead of doing the right thing, a DOE spokesperson says things like, “You can’t have a cookie-cutter- type guideline or policy,” regarding transgender students (“Policy on transgender students urged,” Star-Advertiser, May 4).

Why not? The DOE does for all other policies.

Just because the DOE doesn’t understand the needs of our transgender ohana doesn’t mean it can discriminate against them. Hawaii isn’t North Carolina.

Michael Golojuch Jr.

Chairman, LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii

Kapolei

LNG is bad choice as bridge to the future

Hawaii Gas recently signed a liquefied natural gas contract, part of its plan to spend $200 million to expand the use of LNG in Hawaii.

Hawaii Gas claims LNG is a “bridge fuel” to free us from oil. The truth is, it’s a broken bridge.

LNG contains methane, which is 30 times more potent at trapping heat than CO2, accelerating global warming.

Gov. David Ige said investing in LNG is an unproductive waste of resources, diverting us from meeting Hawaii’s renewable energy goals.

Meanwhile, climate experts assert we need to take bold action now to stop our trajectory toward climate chaos. We can no longer afford these diversions from achieving our 100 percent renewables target; each diversion puts our children’s future at risk.

It’s time to say no to a fossil-fuel industry that puts its profits over us and wreaks havoc on our planet. Remember, there is no Planet B.

Sheryl Pollack

Kaneohe

Electricity generation needs to be reliable

Thank you for Kathryn Mykleseth’s article on Hawaiian Electric’s reliability problems (“Expect more outages, HECO says,” Star-Advertiser, May 8).

Most of the 17 existing generating units that supply electric power to HECO’s Oahu grid are getting old and, as a result, are more subject to breakdowns. With unstable sources, such as wind and solar photovoltaic systems, now providing a significant portion of Oahu’s electric energy needs, system stability and reliability have been affected adversely.

The article included statements advocating “smarter demand-side approaches,” which simply means controlling customer loads that can be quickly disconnected during generation emergencies.

Increased use of unstable generation systems such as wind and solar and the complete lack of large electric energy storage systems on Oahu adversely affect reliability.

With new laws limiting new generation facilities to expensive renewable energy, we can expect less reliable and more costly electric service unless we switch HECO’s existing oil-burning generators to clean and cheap natural gas from Canada.

Alan S. Lloyd

Kailua

Call for more trees should be considered

Tom Dinell continues his legacy of planning for the future with his call to cool ourselves and our descendants in coming decades by planting many more shade trees on our streets (“Honolulu will need many more trees to stay cool as world climate warms up,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, May 8).

We don’t think of trees as infrastructure, like roads and sewers. But as we heat up, that’s exactly what they’ll be.

And like all other infrastructure, there will be costs to put in the trees and maintain them. But without them, Honolulu streets may not be walkable in 15 or 20 years.

Dinell’s call for a city initiative deserves serious consideration by the mayor and City Council.

John Knox

Waimanalo

Park proposal shows misplaced priorities

Instead of envisioning a new Kakaako Waterfront Park in 20 years, perhaps our state officials should concentrate on solving our current problems (“State proposal envisions grand recreational area,” Star-Advertiser, May 10).

When the current park was built, did officials envision the homeless occupying various sections of the park as they do today? Did they envision people camping along Ala Moana Boulevard?

State officials should solve our current problems before dreaming and spending money that we don’t have on future projects. I’m sure that would make us hard-working taxpayers a little happier.

Matt Hee

Kakaako

“Concerns raised over Korean center” Star-Advertiser, May 9:

>> If members of the Korean community want to build a Korean cultural center, let them buy the land and fund raise from the Korean community and others, just like the Japanese, Okinawan and Filipino communities have done. Why is City Council Chairman Ernie Martin pushing $500,000 in city funds for this? Is he receiving special considerations from Korean businesses?

>> The city partially funded the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu and the federal government guaranteed the loan that the center took out from a local bank for the project. So funding community centers like this one is not new.

>> The University of Hawaii already has a very good Korean Studies Center and it is a beautiful facility with a real reason to exist.

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“Road races in Tantalus area not being reported to police” Star-Advertiser, May 9:

>> This is an ongoing issue that is regularly discussed with the community association on the mountain. The residents understand the limitations the Honolulu Police Department faces and works with it to find solutions.

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“Sit-lie bans result in no police work outside city” Star-Advertiser, May 10:

>> 19,942 warnings, 148 citations and six arrests in Chinatown? This is insane. There should have been 6,000 arrests instead of six.

>> And where would we put 6,000 arrested people who cannot post bail? What would you do with all the other court cases in those courtrooms?

>> It’s ridiculous to cite or arrest someone who obviously has nothing to lose and can’t or won’t pay any fine or show up to a court date. Fill up jail space and use tax money to house them temporarily? These people have given up on society already.

>> We’re gonna end up with the homeless taking over the neighborhoods. This can get bad. Nip it in the bud. Get tough everywhere.

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“$43M for city sewage projects being withheld” Star-Advertiser, May 11:

>> The city should make it a priority to upgrade the treatment plant. It will have more than enough time to move the (behavioral) treatment center if needed.

>> $43 million is a drop in the bucket. We will need $43 billion to update the water and sewer system. It will make the rail project seem like child’s play.

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“Telescope turmoil expected to restart” Star-Advertiser, May 11:

>> Here we go again. The tactic of the opposition is to delay, delay, delay until TMT officials get fed up for good and pull out.

>> I am completely confident that the state will manage to screw this legal process up.

>> It is very uncommon for a judge to set up a pre-conference meeting during lunch while one of the attorneys is involved in a pre-existing trial and is expected to switch gears during lunch when usually it is the time attorneys meet to prepare for the afternoon proceedings. If the state does it the right way, TMT has a chance. If the new hearings officer is under pressure and tries to take shortcuts, we will have the same outcome as before.

“HCDA rail plan cuts parking” Star-Advertiser, May 12:

>> This is smart community planning. More walking, biking and transit is the solution to growing traffic congestion.

>> On paper it all looks good, but in reality, there will be cars parked on the streets just like every other neighborhood on Oahu.

>> Do you really think that people who buy million-dollar-plus condos are going to ride public transportation, or walk everywhere? Ha!

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“Chun Oakland will not return to Senate” Star-Advertiser, May 12:

>> Good riddance. However, Rep. Karl Rhoads, who hopes to replace her, is just as bad, so I’m not sure there will be any improvement.

>> Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland has been focused on helping the people of Hawaii for more than a quarter of a century. She’s a fine human being who will be deeply missed at the Capitol. Whatever she decides to do next, she’ll do it with deep commitment and compassion.

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