Hawaii liquor stores should stop selling Russian vodka.

Although this is probably more a symbolic gesture than anything else, it’s the very least we can do to show our support for the courageous people of Ukraine who are standing up, like David to Goliath, to Russia, a country whose military force far exceeds that of the tiny independent country of Ukraine.

The president of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is showing more intestinal fortitude than most other leaders of the free world. When the U.S. offered to help him get out of his country to safety, his response, “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride,” sets the bar of patriotism to a new high.

Shalane Sambor

Punahou

Unrealistic to use only electric vehicles

We keep hearing that airplanes are going to be flying on hydrogen or electricity, and that big diesel trucks and ships are going to be electric. This is terribly misleading, mostly based on small-scale demonstration projects and academic theory. It is not hard to find expert engineering analyses showing that commercial airliners flying on hydrogen or electricity will never be serious alternatives.

Of Hawaii’s 1.1 million cars, only about 17,000 electric vehicles are on our roads after 20 years. Converting the rest of Hawaii’s cars to EVs (a policy objective) will require the replacement of the 400 million gallons a year of gasoline we use now, with electricity. More for diesel. This is a bold goal in the context of electricity supply and fair charging availability to over a million cars.

A gallon of gasoline equals 33.7 kilowatt hours (per EPA). The conversion will result in a huge increase in current electricity demand, and the requirements for additional renewable energy expansion are mind-boggling. The overall impact of massive solar and wind farms threatens to overwhelm our precious aina. We need to be realistic about our values.

Brian Barbata

Kailua

Growing crops under solar panels makes sense

“Earthweek’s Diary of a Changing World” dual-harvest paragraph on agrivoltaics — farming on land under solar panels — is a brilliant idea with so many possibilities for Hawaii and the world (Star-Advertiser, Feb. 27).

Forest-like shade under panels holds more moisture, using less water versus open-field farming for plants needing less sunlight. Plant leaves with partial shade reaching for the sun elicits physiological change, growing bigger leaves, as noted in the article about cabbages growing one-third larger than normal.

Growing plants like bok choy, lettuce, kale, onions, tomatoes and peppers under the solar panels will increase farmers’ production, increasing their profits. Raising the panels will allow for taller plants to grow.

Utilities can lease lands to farmers, increasing their profits, or pass on utility savings to customers. Agrivoltaics use less water, expand our food self-sufficiency, produce fresher produce, reduce imports, burn fewer fossil fuels and improve our environment. All we need is for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open up grants to ambitious small farmers. Let’s do this.

Brad Baang

Waianae

Use facts to judge Honua Ola project

Claims made in Dylan Ramos’ letter, “Burning wood for energy isn’t clean” (Star-Advertiser, Feb. 21), are factually incorrect.

Based on scientific fact, growing more trees than used to produce energy is clean, renewable and dramatically reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Stated plainly, trees consist mainly of carbon. Photosynthesis turns CO2 and water into tree biomass and oxygen. To grow, trees convert the CO2 into biomass.

The size of the tree equals the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere. The 2- to 3-year-old trees at Honua Ola — now between 40-50 feet tall — already represent a lot of biomass and therefore a lot of CO2 removed from the atmosphere.

Because Honua Ola will grow many more trees than harvested, more CO2 will be removed than its facility emits.

Those who oppose Honua Ola — a carbon-negative energy project — are in effect supporting the continued use of costly oil-based fossil fuels indefinitely.

Guy Cellier

Forest manager, CN Renewable Resources (a Honua Ola Bioenergy affiliate), Waimea

Cut our dependence on oil producers

Drug dealers are not kind to their customers and junkies. So goes it with oil dealers (Russia, Venezuela, many Middle Eastern countries) to the West. Worse yet, the worse they act, the more their product is worth.

We should accelerate Hawaii’s renewable energy goals to be at 100% renewable by 2035, not the current goal of 2045. Hawaii again needs to provide a good example to the mainland and the rest of the world.

Terry Revere

Kailua

Lax punishment for DUI drivers has got to stop

Looking at the recent DUI traffic deaths, it appears that the current laws and proposed laws aren’t making a difference.

The Legislature needs to send a message to people who drive while drunk. Kill someone while driving impaired, get charged with first-degree murder. Kill while driving without a license or with a suspended license, especially due to DUI: first-degree murder with no chance for parole.

Impaired drivers made the choice to get in the car and drive. That shows premeditation, so if they kill or injure someone they should face the harshest of sentences.

Drivers caught driving with no license or suspended licenses should automatically be charged with a felony. Driving with a DUI-suspended license should result in mandatory jail time. Drivers who refuse to take a sobriety test should have their licenses suspended for five years.

We need to make the penalties harsher to send a message to impaired drivers.

Stan Sano

Makiki

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