Let’s get the ball rolling on the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.

The protesters have had their say. Let them protest all they want, but make way for the construction of the telescope.

Most citizens of Hawaii want to see the telescope built. It is not as though someone is trying to build a Zippy’s or McDonald’s on top of Mauna Kea; it is a state-of-the-art telescope to search the stars. The telescope would not only bring prestige to Hawaii but would be a worldwide contribution to science.

Beyond the nonsense of possibly offending mythical, ancient Hawaiian gods, superstition and the personal preferences of a hundred or so zealots who hardly represent the wishes of the rest of the state, we are wasting time and lots of money by delaying the completion of the new telescope.

It is sad that such a small group can delay a project that would benefit so many others.

Geoff Davis
Pearlridge

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King Kalakaua liked astronomy

I wonder if the people of Hawaii are aware of how interested in astronomy King David Kalakaua was.

He traveled the world and was exposed to many things. His looking through a telescope convinced him that Hawaii was an ideal place for astronomy, since it is in the middle of the ocean without all the interferences.

Today, I would think, the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea would be a feather in his cap.

Edna Matsushige
Wahiawa

NextEra is open and transparent

My interest in the pending Hawaiian Electric Industries partnership with NextEra is both personal and professional, as I was born in Wahiawa and have been a NextEra employee for many years. I was raised in the Boston area, but most of my family on my mother’s side lives in Hawaii.

In 2002, my company started hearing about a proposed deal with Next-Era (then Florida Power and Light).

Our employees had concerns about being acquired by a company we knew little about. I can tell you 13 years later that becoming part of NextEra was the best thing that ever happened.

NextEra’s leaders are smart and experienced. The company is open and transparent, and being the world’s largest renewable energy company, NextEra is a perfect fit for Hawaii.

I hope facts and common sense drive this important decision. NextEra has proven that an energy company can be clean and low-cost.

If Hawaii wants to become “all renewable” by 2045 while lowering its rates, there is no better company in the world to help make that happen than NextEra.

Alan Griffith
Danvers, Mass.

‘World war’ not what it once was

I partially disagree with Thomas E. Stuart that “we have used our nuclear arsenal every day for the last 70 years: It is deterrence that has prevented another world war” (Deterrence is key to peace,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Sept 11).

While nukes have deterred nuclear war with other nuclear powers, nukes have not deterred conventional wars and unconventional wars, including surrogate, irregular and cyber warfare.

While nuclear wars may not necessarily become “world wars,” conventional and unconventional wars may become world wars whereby many nations across several continents and oceans may become affected by a few belligerents.

We may already be witnessing the start of a new type of world war that has had roots in Europe, Middle East, North Africa and China. Nukes are not involved, but they may be if the U.S. tacitly allows Iran to have them.

Russel Noguchi
Pearl City

Iran deal likely to end badly

After receiving details of the first inspection at the Iranian Parchin facility, one is left with grave doubt about the strength of a deal allowing a side-agreement to Iranian self-inspection (“Iran deal is best for U.S. in long run,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Sept. 22).

Reuters has reported that Iran said there was no International Atomic Energy presence at the event, but IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano maintained that he could confirm the integrity of the sampling process nonetheless.

It is disarmingly naive to assume that Iran would independently engage in a sampling process with integrity.

The IAEA has consistently pressed for access to this highly suspect military facility to no avail. In view of the circumstances, the inevitable conclusion is that the strength of this “deal” rests on the authority of the agency, and that given Iran’s posture with regard to the latter, America is headed for irremediable tumult.

Stephen Hinton
Haleiwa