Recent newspaper stories about Honolulu police officers getting away with little or no punishment for criminal behavior is disturbing and needs to be corrected (“Crossing the line,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 21-23).
As the sayings go:
>> Law enforcement officers need to be held to a higher standard.
>> Facts don’t lie; people and organizations do.
>> Criminal behavior that goes unpunished (or with little appropriate punishment) fosters continued bad, criminal behavior. And the hurt, abused citizenry get no justice.
Our legislators and state courts need to change this state of affairs and get in line with how the federal courts deal with such criminal behavior.
And what role and responsibility does the police commission play in this problem area?
Stephen Kabei
Salt Lake
Renewable energy makes economic sense
Renewable energy — such as wind and solar power — is now the cheapest form of electricity.
Iowa, for example, just announced a startling transition to 85 percent wind power by 2020. Iowa is not a particularly green or liberal state. It’s making this change because of economics.
It’s shutting down existing fossil-fuel plants and replacing them with wind at no additional cost to ratepayers. Iowa’s electrical rates are currently 10 cents per kilowatt, well below the national average of 12 cents per kilowatt or Hawaii’s rough average of 26 cents.
Renewable energy also is less expensive, despite the fact that fossil fuels are massively subsidized.
Worldwide, fossil fuels receive $452 billion a year in subsidies compared to $121 billion for renewable energy.
And, as with any technology, renewable energy will only decrease in price as production increases and newer technology is developed.
Hawaii’s future is with renewable energy. It’s not only better for our environment, it’ll help us save a little green as well.
Robert Harris
Public policy director, Sunrun Inc.
LNG not as clean as some other options
Liquefied natural gas does indeed burn cleaner than diesel; however, it still produces carbon dioxide.
LNG, unfortunately, also means fracking, which means poisoning underground water aquifers, and lots of methane releases that cause more environmental damage than CO2 in the short run.
The reason we still need oil or LNG at all is because we don’t have storage for solar and wind power. Our utilities are unable to provide adequate “firm” power without using fossil fuels.
A number of practical alternatives have been proposed:
>> Biodiesel from sunflower seeds grown on former cane land, which recycles carbon instead of just releasing it.
>> Windmill pump storage of water in high-elevation reservoirs for fast ramp-up hydropower.
>> Geothermal and solar heat storage for turbines.
>> Solar and wind power electrolysis of water to make hydrogen, a zero-carbon replacement for diesel and LNG in generators.
All proposals are cleaner than the LNG option.
Daniel Grantham
Haiku
Don’t count on getting a rebate from surplus
The state of Hawaii will end up with a $1 billion surplus of our taxpayer dollars (“State ends fiscal year with record $1 billion surplus,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 24).
But as long as the Democrats control our Legislature, you’ll never see a rebate of those tax dollars in your pocketbook. The billion-dollar surplus is reserved for their state government employees’ pay raises.
Since 1959 when we became the 50th state, Hawaii has had just a few Republican governors. One of them was Linda Lingle. During her tenure, there was a year that the state ended the fiscal year with a surplus. Lingle proposed that the surplus be returned to the citizens of this state in the form of a rebate. But the Democratic-controlled Legislature shot that proposal down.
The overtaxed citizens of this state have a great opportunity in the November general election to remove all Democratic incumbents.
Melvin Partido Sr.
Pearl City
Three Tables should have lifeguard station
I had the unfortunate experience to see a man pulled out of the water at Three Tables beach on the North Shore, where he drowned. (The day before, another man also drowned at the same beach.)
Professional emergency responders arrived and spent at least 40 minutes working on the victim, to no avail.
I’ve always wondered why every other beach — from Chun’s to Waimea Bay, and all along the seven miles around Sunset — seems to have lifeguard stations.
There are enough swimmers and snorkelers at Three Tables during the summer to warrant a dedicated lifeguard station at least a few months of the year.
As Three Tables is a marine sanctuary, it also would be good to have someone reminding visitors not to step all over the coral reefs, damaging the fragile underwater ecosystem.
Penny E. Nakamura
Bend, Ore./Pupukea
FROM THE FORUM
Readers of the Star-Advertiser’s online edition can respond to stories posted there. The following are some of those. Instead of names, pseudonyms are generally used online. They have been removed.
“Officials step up efforts to track pueo on Oahu”
Star-Advertiser, Aug. 22:
>> It looks like there may be a foundation of truth to former City Councilman Tom Berg’s ranting and raving. Who would have thought. … Could this halt the Ho‘opili development, if someone sues to demand an adequate environmental impact study?
>> The habitat destruction by the rail project and Ho‘opili will destroy the pueo’s habitat forever.
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“Names of police officers disciplined for misconduct not released to public”
Star-Advertiser, Aug. 22:
>> The Honolulu Police Department has no shame.
>> The Legislature created this privacy shield for police officers, and the legislators always get re-elected, no matter what.
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“Report gives UH president high marks”
Star-Advertiser, Aug. 23:
>> David Lassner’s leadership team has brought much-needed stability to the University of Hawaii system. It’s not an easy job. It’s good to read that the Board of Regents approved of his performance.
>> Dan Grabauskas of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation had good ratings on his job at first, too.
>> Up until the day he was forced to resign.
“State ends fiscal year with record $1 billion surplus”
Star-Advertiser, Aug. 24:
>> And yet the governor said there was no money for highway improvements and wants to significantly raise vehicle registration fees.
>> And the retirement system remains underfunded.
>> Huge investments are needed in state infrastructure. For example, the University of Hawaii has been starved of maintenance funding for years. But when money is sought for these purposes, the governor and Legislature plead poverty. Why? So that there’s a billion-dollar cash surplus sitting on the books when it’s time for the next contract negotiation with the public worker unions who voted them into office.
>> Give it back to the taxpayers. Economic activity is always increased when the government allows people to keep more of the money they earn.
>> When you hand a cashier $20 for a $15 bill, you expect to get $5 back. It’s no different when a state receives an overpayment for services rendered. It doesn’t get to keep the change.
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“Ban on frolicking with dolphins sought”
Star-Advertiser, Aug. 24:
>> Dolphins are highly intelligent animals. Once they realize that humans pose no threat, I doubt that they get very stressed by the presence of snorkelers. Perhaps the most telling line in the article is “Scientists have not done any studies on how frolicking with humans has affected the dolphins’ numbers. But they fear the stress will harm the animals’ ability to reproduce.” Just like banning GMOs — no scientific support, only feel-good B.S.
>> You’re right about dolphins being highly intelligent. They’re probably thinking, “Hey, I’m trying to sleep here!”
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“Hospital mourns death of beloved therapy dog”
Star-Advertiser, Aug. 25:
>> So very sad to hear about Tucker. Tucker helped my granddaughter in a very difficult situation. He will be missed.
>> Tucker was a wonderful soul. I came across him several times when I frequented Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. While it is sad, just remember the joy he brought so many. I will say a blessing for him.
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“Despite gains on test, many students not college-ready”
Star-Advertiser, Aug. 25:
>> The state Department of Education is failing miserably to prepare our youth for college. In the current scenario, it simply dumps them at the doorstep of our colleges — mainly our community colleges — and says, “You prepare them.” In the end, the burden falls on college English teachers who are faced with the impossible task of doing, in one or two semesters, what schools have failed to do in 12 years.
>> With such poor results, the DOE administrators and teachers still want raises.
