Recently there was yet another column of blatant misinformation presented by the so-called “Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii” that does damage with its falsehoods (“Don’t blame climate change for fires,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Sept. 24).

To advance poorly disguised financial self-interest, the authors have cherry-picked and distorted statistics that do not at all reflect the consensus of scientific studies worldwide on climate change and the evidence that prior decisions on land and water use in the Lahaina area contributed to the devastating fires we saw on Aug. 8.

Any efforts like theirs to retard the transition away from fossil fuels harm all of us. A small local group of retired businessmen overestimating their competence in an area that is not their specialty does not offer a valid alternative to the global community of scientists who have validated the truth of global warming for more than 150 years.

One wonders why the Star-Advertiser continues to print this group’s consistently deceptive writing. This group’s trick is the oldest one in the book: presenting a moral justification for what is just plain selfishness.

Peter Greenhill

Hawaii Kai

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