Letters: SMART cards not available to all; Don’t equate abortion rights, vaccine mandate; DOH should cooperate, give data for research

I am a Hawaii resident, homeowner and taxpayer who has the Safe Travels exemption, but when I applied for the SMART Health Card I was denied. I put in all the information from my CDC card, just like I did for Safe Travels. The date, vaccine, lot and batch numbers, etc. It was all legit.

The problem? Although I am a Hawaii resident, I received my vaccines when I was out of state. When I tried to fill in the box with a pull-down tab for the state where I received my vaccine, only Hawaii was on the list.

I personally think it is an oversight and an inconvenience not to allow Hawaii residents who happened to be vaccinated elsewhere not to be eligible for the SMART card. We live here. We dine here. We pay taxes here. So why can’t we get the SMART card like our family, friends and neighbors?

Robert Hughes

Kailua

Don’t equate abortion rights, vaccine mandate

How many times do we have to listen to the same old faulty argument that abortion rights and vaccine mandates are somehow analogous (“Shouldn’t pro-choice include vaccinations?,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Oct. 14)?

They aren’t, despite the co-opting of the “my body, my choice” slogan, mostly by the religious right anti-vaxx movement.

The constitutional right to an abortion affords people the choice to end a pregnancy. Vaccine mandates also offer a choice: Get vaccinated or don’t.

Mandates are not forced vaccinations. Yes, there is a price to be paid for the choice you make, which may result in the loss of a job or the inability to travel freely or attend events. But unlike the choice to terminate a pregnancy, which primarily affects only the woman and perhaps her partner, your choice to refuse vaccinations can affect the health and safety of your entire community.

These are two separate, noncomparable issues.

Marcy Wilhelm

Waipahu

DOH should cooperate, give data for research

All government action at any level is always subject to public scrutiny, so why has the state Department of Health (DOH) decided to stop releasing detailed information it had been providing for months (“Researchers say Hawaii Health Department officials have refused to share COVID-19 data,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 7)?

Our local researchers and supporting members should be commended for reaching out to DOH, offering to collaborate to provide more detailed data to the public. More information would definitely have helped motivate people to consider getting vaccinated. It’s not surprising that DOH refused to respond or share information, although it encourages people to get vaccinated. So what is DOH trying to hide from the public?

Patrick N. Custino

Kaneohe

Closing coal plant will raise electricity costs

Until recently, who knew Oahu used coal to make electricity? Now the coal plant is being shut down prematurely because it produces CO2, not because of coal dust or noxious emissions (“Views clash over Oahu’s impending shift from coal to clean energy,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 7). But Hawaii’s emissions of CO2 from coal are apparently a climate change crisis. How urgent is this, really?

The shutdown replaces coal generation with oil, which also produces CO2, because we expect to someday replace oil with solar or wind. According to the state Public Utilities Commission 2018 annual report, as reported by Hawaii Business, a kilowatt-hour produced from coal costs Hawaiian Electric 5 cents, oil costs 11 cents, and solar costs 15 cents.

Shutting down coal’s generation, before we can replace it with solar or wind, will result in higher prices for Oahu’s electricity, and make little difference in CO2. Brilliant.

Brian Barbata

Kailua

Removal of Haiku Stairs would be a tragic loss

If the nayor and City Council remove the historic Haiku Stairs, the Stairway to Heaven treasure will be lost to Hawaii, the world and future generations.

But removal does not eliminate the city’s and neighbors’ three main concerns — liability, security costs and trespass — because determined hikers will hike the Haiku ridge even after the stairs are removed.

Friends of Haiku Stairs has expended significant effort to develop a workable managed access plan, with proven methods successfully used at hiking venues around the world. Managed access addresses every objection voiced by the mayor, City Council and Haiku neighbors. Managed access is recommended in the final environmental impact statement.

Sam Gillie

Secretary, Engineers and Architects of Hawaii

Hahaione

Fond memories of Al Harrington in Waikiki

It was so sad to lose another cherished entertainer, Al Harrington, in Hawaii (“Legendary Hawaii entertainer Al Harrington dies at age 85,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 21). He was our host at the Hilton dinner for our tour group when I first came to Hawaii in the late 1960s, and I spent much time going to see his shows in Waikiki and I also watched him in so many TV shows.

Hawaii and the world surely will miss him. I always will remember him telling people how I helped him put his kids through school by coming to see his shows all the time.

Maluhia, Al.

Dolores Treffeisen

Philadelphia

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