Letters: Protect Kawainui Marsh from development plan; Revisit COVID policies with vaccine rollout; Hawaii GOP should call for conviction of Trump

On Dec. 24, Gov. David Ige accepted the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the development of the Kawainui Marsh in Kailua.

Does the governor think that EIS means “Eliminating Indigenous Species”?

Kawainui Marsh is the largest wetland in Hawaii, designated a “Wetland of International Importance (especially as a waterfowl habitat and other indigenous species) Habitat” by Ramsar.

How can structural development, specifically designed to open the door to 10,000 visitors a month, be in the best interest of the few remaining original inhabitants of the territory?

Many Native Hawaiian groups advocating for development put forth the argument that the development structures will honor the original pre-missionary arrivals.

Using this “original pre-missionary arrival” argument, remember that the scarce number of remaining indigenous plants and wildlife in the Kawainui wetlands arrived long before any Hawaiians.

Kawainui Marsh belongs to Mother Nature and must remain so as long as possible, continually culled of invasive species and in her natural pre-arrival state.

Stann W. Reiziss

Kailua

Principles don’t always make good policy

Principles don’t always make good policy. For a long time, the U.S. had a free-market trade policy, but it made us turn a blind eye when the Chinese Communist government pushed our companies into forced-technology transfer.

The Obama administration took a pro-democracy, anti-Assad stance during the Syrian civil war, but it led to a huge outflow of refugees that destabilized our allies in the region and Europe and empowered radical right-wing movements.

Reducing income inequality sounds like an unobjectionable idea, until you consider the current government debt and unfunded liabilities, and the impact on behavioral incentives.

Why don’t principles always make good policy? Because principles are not facts.

We should aspire to good principles, but our starting place must be to take the world as we find it, not as we wish it to be.

Lloyd Lim

Makiki

Revisit COVID policies with vaccine rollout

Regarding the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, what is the state’s plan to lift restrictions on those who are immune, either by infection or immunization?

Continued mask wearing and social isolation are detrimental to the immune system. Continued testing is expensive and a waste of precious resources.

Citing rare exceptions to the rule and enforcement issues are not sufficient to justify continued restrictions.

Since the immune population in Hawaii is in the tens of thousands, and growing daily, this is not a trivial issue. Let’s remember that the goal of pandemic response was a return to normalcy.

Rhoads E. Stevens, M.D.

Hawaii Kai

Single-use ban unfair to local establishments

Banning single-use plastics and foam for local food establishments provides an unfair sustainable advantage for mainland and foreign competitors who sell many times more product packaged as such in supermarkets and grocery chain stores.

Asian soup bowls and packaged plates from mainland producers frequently are sold in single-use Styrofoam or plastic. Yet those sources of single-use banned material are exempt. So the supposedly green local environmental laws are hypocritical if not sinister in their relentless assault on local, family-owned food establishments.

The counties need to repeal their existing bans on single-use foam and plastic packaging now and put forth some deeper thought to ensure that they equally apply to locally produced and served restaurant food as they do to prepackaged food. Current laws egregiously penalize and suffocate our already struggling restaurants.

Von Kenric Kaneshiro

Downtown Honolulu

Events show importance of school civics lessons

Civics high school courses teach kids about the history of our government and all its intricacies, federal and local, as well as how fragile it can be. We who were born here often ignore the plight of those living under fascist regimes, or realize how quickly those who would be kings rose to power and stayed in power using select suppression — especially against the “fake news,” or what we know to be truth.

We narrowly escaped another four years of an autocrat wannabe. Let’s do a better job of teaching civics in school and at home. It is the best investment we can make.

Jeff Bigler

Wailuku

Hawaii GOP should call for conviction of Trump

In the documentary, “This is Not a Movie: Robert Fisk and the Politics of Truth,” the legendary writer asked journalist Antony Loewenstein why he returned to Israel, despite his misgivings. His reply: “I’m Jewish. We should all be ashamed of what is being done in our name.”

Most GOP representatives and senators clearly were not ashamed of what was done in the name of their Dear Leader on Jan. 6. After the horrifying assault on the U.S. Capitol, they went right back to assert, as the mob did, that the election was stolen.

Does the Hawaii GOP support the lawmakers who voted against certifying the election?

I live in Hawaii Kai, represented by Republican Gene Ward. Hawaii would welcome hearing him call on GOP senators to unify around the conviction of Donald Trump. And he could tell MAGA voters here to refrain from the violence being predicted around state Capitols nationwide.

Dawn Webster

Hawaii Kai

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