• Cut down on use of oil • Gym roof questions unanswered • ‘Princes’ let residents down Cut down on use of oil Our world has faced some serious challenges in the past few years; natural disaster, terrorist hits and
• Cut down on use of oil
• Gym roof questions unanswered
• ‘Princes’ let residents down
Cut down on use of oil
Our world has faced some serious challenges in the past few years; natural disaster, terrorist hits and depletion of our land and marine resources have led us to the point where we are today. The tragedy that hit the Gulf recently has changed history once again.
This most recent disaster has affected us in ways we could not imagine. From the realization that millions are homeless, to the fact that we are paying $3.80 for a gallon of gas, we will all pay for this storm. The time has come (again!) to consider solutions. Our Island economy will not work for us if we continue our heavy reliance on oil. We use oil to light and air condition our homes, dry our clothes, take showers, drive to town and ride sand on the beach! The food we eat gets to Kaua’i by the oil that carries the barges. It exists in our lives many hours of each and every day.
Now more than ever we must change the way we use oil in our everyday lives. We can grumble about how high the gas prices have become or we can play an active role in a solution-oriented change of lifestyle. We all have the power to implement these changes. Should we rely on the president to assist us in these changes? I should think not! The change must come from an individual, county, and state level.
An afternoon of sunlight will dry our clothes; a smaller car will take you to Lihu’e and the beach with the same amount of gas as one trip in the truck. If buying a smaller fuel efficient car is not in the budget at this time consider arranging a car pool circle with coworkers that live in your area. A solar water heater will reduce electric bills by as much as 40-percent, and with this recent surge in oil prices, the increase will be noticed in this next electric bill. Little steps in our lives can make a big change in how we use our limited resources.
Support your local economy. Support it so it can grow. If you make the choice to buy from the farmers markets and the fishermen and ranchers of Hawai’i, you will automatically reduce the need for oil in Hawai’i. We rely so heavily on the mainland markets that as oil prices go up, so will food prices. The closer you buy a product from home, whether it be a pineapple, eggs, honey, fish, or beef, the less oil will be needed to get it there, and the money that is spent will remain in the islands.
We are an island with the potential to raise the food and crops we need to feed our community. With Congressman Ed Case currently a “ranking member of the Agricultural Committee in the House of Representatives” and his cousin Steve Case who owns over 41,000 acres on the eastside and south side of Kaua’i, we should be on the forefront of providing food security for our Islands. If we support our local economy then we will support the people and the land in which we live, and at the same time begin to achieve economic security in Hawaii.
Ed Case can be contacted via ed.case@mail.house.gov, 202.225.4906 (D.C. office), 808.541.1986 (HI office).
Steve Case can be contacted via. The Case Foundation, www.casefoundation.org, 202.467.5788.
- Stephanie Krieger,
Kapa’a
Gym roof questions unanswered
Perhaps in Mr. Troutman’s letter to the Forum (9/10) “Good job on gym roof” he was so eager to pass out kudos to those he felt had fixed the Kilauea gym roof that he forgot to mention that this “leak” took 10 years to fix, probably cost the taxpayers enough in outside and inhouse legal fees to have built a NEW gym, and we never heard why the performance bond that all contractors are mandated to put up when doing government jobs didn’t remedy the situation when the leak was first discovered.
And also while this 10-year fiasco was going on, a young man regretfully had to break his leg on a rain slick floor—a young man who had the courtesy not to sue the county because, as he said, it would have stopped the recreational activities for a lot of other kids—what a class thing to do!
‘Princes’ let residents down
First, I must compliment Lester Chang on his clear and objective news story on the fears and concerns of the residents of Ulu Ko and the surrounding environs with respect to the actions and decisions of Grove Farm on roads and traffic.
To that excellent article, I would like to add some emotion and specificity.
People who bought and built houses whose yards faced Nawiliwili felt secure, as traffic has continued to mount, that Grove Farm had promised to build a four lane highway extension of Nuhou on the other side of Ulu Ko to divert traffic from Nawiliwili. People bought and built houses on Alaekea Street secure that they would have the presence of a county park in back of their houses for their children. People bought and built houses on Apapane, secure in the belief that they would live on a quiet residential street where children could ride bikes on the street.
There was evidence to support these beliefs as to the alternative highway promised by Grove Farm on the maps in the telephone book and on the official Kauai County maps.
Now, all that security has been destroyed. Grove Farm will not build the promised highway, but instead will run a four-lane highway through the county park, connecting with Aheahe, and with a four way stop light at the intersection of Nawiliwili and Aheahe. This four-lane road will also connect with Apapane so that people in the new development between the new highway and Aheahe can have access to Apapane.
Grove Farm plans an upscale condominium development south of Ulu Ko right in the path of the promised high-way. This would drastically diminish the salability of those condos. Instead, Grove Farms will build a two-lane service road on the original highway route, dead ending in the high end condominium community.
So, no diversion of traffic off Nawiliwili, but traffic diverted on to it, increasing the traffic. There will be no park view from Alaekea Street or park for children to play in. There will be no safety for children to play on Apapane as the trucks and other traffic take a short cut through the subdivision and avoid the stoplight.
It is claimed that people were informed by letter of this coming change. They were not! A letter was sent out telling people that there were plans for an alignment of Nuhou Road. That road does not exist, and no one was therefore concerned.
The Planning Commission has not required an Environmental Impact Study of this new and changed road. And there has been no cost/benefit analysis by Grove Farm.
All of this has skimmed by “under the radar.” Hundreds of years ago, Machiavelli said, “Put not your faith in princes.” Certainly this would apply to the princes of Grove Farm.
