We live like there is no tomorrow. How many of us, consumers all, think about our behaviors, our driving, our consumption and/or our travel, with our beleaguered environment in mind?

Kona is happy because of the return of the Ironman World Championship. Another wake-up call.

All those athletes flying in; all those rental cars discharging heat, using fossil fuels, emitting carbon. The Ironman is great for the economy. The corporate hotels love the profits.

Do we think about how our behaviors contribute to rising sea levels and the abundance of wildfires and floods? The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Honolulu, Hawaii and Maui counties as primary natural disaster areas due to drought.

Scientists estimate that 150-200 species of plant, insect, bird and mammal become extinct every 24 hours. This is nearly 1,000 times the “natural” or “background” rate.

Driving matters. Consumption matters. Travel matters. Can we be aware of the difference between a want and a need?

Can we think about our natural world 10, 15 or 100 years from now?

Gary Harrold

Hilo

Reopen coal plant until green energy is ready

Oahu’s coal plant has been shut down in the name of climate change while Oahu families struggle to pay for soaring fuel and food prices (“Hawaii quits coal in bid to fight climate change,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, Sept. 1).

Hawaiian Electric acknowledged that the timing of this closure “couldn’t be worse.”

It is criminal to eliminate a source of electricity without first having a dependable and affordable substitute in place. Gov. David Ige must issue an emergency stay to reopen the coal plant until the green energy infrastructure is able to supply our island’s energy needs at an affordable price.

Heather Strait

Kailua

Chinese-American vets get overdue recognition

Recognition was finally bestowed on the Chinese-American veterans who served in World War II with Congress’ highest award, the Congressional Gold Medal (“Overdue honors,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 28).

Unfortunately, many of them had passed on without ever knowing how much they were appreciated for their sacrifices and valor. Like many of the minorities who served in the last war, their stories, good and bad, are finally being told.

The late Robert M. Wai occasionally spoke of his grim combat and other experiences to his family. It was startling when he revealed that he experienced racism at a Red Cross tent. He and his Chinese-American buddies could not even get a simple cup of coffee and doughnuts.

We all grew up to revere the Red Cross for all the good it does, but that was not one of its finer moments; it now gives me pause to donate to the organization again.

It seems that the article tried to pay tribute to Hawaii’s 180 Chinese-American veterans and the thousands of minorities who sacrificed their lives during WWII and never really got the recognition they long rightfully deserved.

Gary Takashima

Waipahu

Cheney helped create the problem she decries

The news media and “reasonable” Republicans are showering U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney with praise, calling her “courageous” and a “hero” for her strong stance in defending the Constitution and democracy.

While she deserves such accolades, let’s examine Cheney’s position on certain legislative matters and political issues. Records show that she is anti-abortion, pro-gun, strongly opposed the Affordable Care Act and a hardliner on immigration. Above all, she refused to condemn the “birtherism” movement, a racist conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. She supported the radical political style that allowed Trumpism to grow.

The Republicans have nurtured Trumpism by injecting poison into the veins of democracy in the form of voter suppression laws and their continued efforts to advance the “Big Lie” to smear the sanctity of the electoral process.

Cheney’s records indicate that she was part of the very problem that she decries. Now she wants to put out the fire she helped create.

Rod B. Catiggay

Mililani

Big corporations got loan forgiveness, too

Ernie Itoga was right; student loan forgiveness did set a bad precedent (“Student loan forgiveness sets a bad precedent,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Sept. 5).

We bailed out the auto industry, savings and loans, and, most famously, Wall Street and its mortgage loan fiasco. The fact is that nobody got prosecuted. The fact is that for pharmaceutical companies, losing millions of dollars in lawsuits is just a cost of doing business. These people and companies were caught committing actual crimes. And it set a precedent that continues to this day. Go ahead, behave recklessly, if it causes incalculable damages to America, who cares? I got mine.

We bail out the rich all the time. Except this time, when average citizens were defrauded into borrowing for deceptively inflated tuition rates, believing the college-equals-a-good-job lie, and universities behaved poorly with federal backing — now you blanch? Follow facts and not ideology.

Joseph Bussen

Kailua

Free parking would mean all-day parking

Regarding the numerous letters to the editor suggesting doing away with paid street parking meters in favor of free parking, do I really need to state the obvious? Street parking would cease to exist as individuals would use these stalls as their personal parking spots 24/7. While no one likes paying for parking, it is a necessary evil dictated by discourteous people.

Craig Meyers

Aiea

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