Letters for Thursday, July 12, 2012
• Take 1st step to make change for the better • Google smart meters • Be careful with fire • Real truth about EC pill • 1773 Tea Tax Two • Kudos to Walter Lewis
Change in online commenting policy
Starting July 1, The Garden Island has changed how it monitors the online commenting portion of thegardenisland.com. All comments will go through an approval process. Not all comments will be approved. Priority will be given to those that are topical, remain within our comment policies and contain the author’s full name and hometown.
We encourage continued use of our online comment feature as well as the Letters to the Editor in our print edition. The Garden Island values reader input and encourages thoughtful debate.
Take 1st step to make change for the better
As someone who has spent over a quarter of a century on this island, I have observed the slow but sure degradation of the environment.
Once pristine, Kaua‘i is now choked with traffic, people, noise, garbage along the roads, etc., all the trappings of our oil-based, materialistic, consumer-driven, so-called civilization.
It is the plastic in the ocean and on the beaches, especially on the Eastside, that personally drives me nuts. The beach near where I live has begun to look like a Third World garbage dump full of debris from the North Pacific fishing fleets, cruise ships which pass by illegally dumping, and unthinking locals and tourists.
Most disconcerting are the small pieces of Styrofoam and other plastics coming in on every high tide. Just a few years ago this was seasonal. Now it is year-round.
One winter I hauled out nine truckloads of plastic, fish nets and other oil-based garbage only to discover that our inadequate recycling system would not take it. The only place to take it was our already overfilled landfill.
I have no faith whatsoever or even a desire to seek a solution in government as it has proven itself unable to do much of anything other than grow itself and spend taxpayer money on studies, plans and more personnel to do more of nothing much.
Is there a solution and if so, what is it? It is ourselves, each individual. In this consumer economy, we consumers have the ultimate power. All we have to do is first wake up, then make choices in what we buy, one person at a time.
For example, I will no longer spend money with any business that uses Styrofoam take-out boxes or cups, and have requested paper alternatives from several. Happily, these businesses have complied and now put my food to go on a paper plate with aluminum foil or another plate upside down on top for a cover.
I urge each and every one of you to do the same. Make good choices about what you buy and where it comes from.
Recently, while planning to buy a paddleboard, I looked at Costco and discovered every one of them is made in China. Yes, they are cheaper, but I decided not to support slave labor and our trade deficit, to spend a bit more and have a local shaper make one. This will create a job and keep the money in our own local economy.
Will my efforts have an impact? By myself, obviously not. But, if even one of you who reads this wakes up and changes one buying decision, there is some small effect. Then, if that person convinces another and so on, perhaps together we can make a difference.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
Michael Wells
Moloa‘a
Google smart meters
In the latest issue of KIUC Currents, there is an ad on the fifth page stating “If smart meters are such a health hazard, why isn’t everyone in Las Vegas sick? Get the facts about smart meters,” at the KIUC website.
Are we going to wait until people get seriously sick?
First of all, if you want the facts about smart meters, just Google smart meters and it will lead you to many YouTube discussions and sites, led by experts such as Dr. Karl Maret. These and many more are not talking against smart meters for financial gain, these are people concerned with the health risks.
As we all know the increase in many types of cancer and autism is alarming, and no one knows the cause. Childrens’ brains absorb more radiation than adults as the skull is still thin.
In California, there is a moratorium on smart meters in Watsonville and Fairfax and 18 other cities, which have stopped installation.
When we were all smoking cigarettes, did we know it was going to kill us? How many years did it take for the truth to come out?
No research has been done by the FCC since the mid-1990s. Aside from health risks, smart meters have not saved any consumers money, and it does not decrease our consumption of oil.
Smart meters have been called surveillance devices by experts, and access for hackers.
Check it out for yourself to know the real facts.
Google smart meters.
Marjorie Lewis
Kapa‘a
Be careful with fire
The Fourth of July is one of the holidays we love to celebrate with fire, in a multitude of forms such as fireworks, barbecues, beach bonfires and camp fires. Fire can bring us delight, it is a useful tool we use in so many ways, and yet it is a powerful force and can be a danger.
A forest fire recently raged here on Kaua‘i, with a constant stream of helicopters doing water drops as well as crews working to put it out. I would like to put out a reminder of how easy it is for fire to get out of control, to go where it is not wanted and to cause great damage.
When the island is in a dry period especially, a mere cigarette butt thrown from a pickup or car window can bring the destruction of hundreds of acres of forest. Likewise, a campfire left smoldering, or fireworks used in an unsafe location, can have disastrous consequences.
Yes, we want to enjoy our holidays and our island. But please, may we all take extra care in how, when and where we enjoy fire so that everyone may remain safe, and so that Kaua‘i may remain a place of beauty for our enjoyment, and so the forest may continue in its ongoing role, which so benefits us, as it provides shelter for wildlife, prevents erosion, creates oxygen to freshen our atmosphere and attracts rain, which keeps our green paradise the Garden Isle.
Janai Kapua
Waimea
Real truth about EC pill
Chris Metcalf (“Tell truth about EC pill, Planned Parenthood,” July 9) asks for the real truth about EC.
From a strong supporter of Planned Parenthood, here is the truth. The EC pill contains a high dose of hormones used in conventional birth control pills and prevents conception for up to five days after intercourse.
Contrary to Metcalf’s claims, EC does not induce abortion and does not involve the use of the abortifacient mifepristone (RU-486).
I do agree with Metcalf on one thing: Let’s stop accepting lies as truth.
Robin Clark
Kalaheo
1773 Tea Tax Two
Supreme Court Justice Roberts (June 28, 2012) turned a tale of transformation into the truth of reality; Obamacare is nothing more than another 1773 Tea Tax: Tea Tax Two.
But this Tea Tax Two also turns out to be the largest tax increase in the history of the world. Think about that! An amateur tyrant, a neophyte, testing the tensil and tenor of the true thew, strength and vitality of the true American patriot who trusts our Constitution.
America’s “Truant President” is attempting to transfer taxpayers’ hard-earned stipends into bureaucratic control. Talented at twisting the truth into non-truths, tempered text is transformed into terrifying debts; debts threatening our youth’s futures. Without balanced budgets it’s difficult to be held truly accountable. Stuffing taxes down the throats of taxpayers and voters is not a trait of a trustworthy truthsayer but rather that of the training and teachings of a thug, a totalitarian, taskmaking “Truant President.” Instead of a truculent king such as the colonists dealt with, America is stuck with a “Truant President!”
It’s time to turn to integrity, truthfulness and honesty in character. Register, listen, think and vote. Aloha.
John Hoff
Lawa‘i
Kudos to Walter Lewis
Mr. Lewis’ excellent column (“KIUC, please remember mission”), which appeared Sunday in The Garden Island, pointed out many of the reasons why Kaua’i residents suffer the highest-priced electricity in the nation.
KIUC has failed miserably to perform in what should be their highest mission priority: holding down electricity costs.
We have, by all appearance, a power company on a “power trip.” Current management is intent on growth — they want to own their hydro sources, they want to own their solar farms. Bigger may be better for the powers that be at KIUC, but what about the interests of the customers (the members who own the coop)?
Why doesn’t KIUC use its much touted “low-cost borrowing capacity” to make a real impact on reducing member electric bills by switching from ultra high-priced diesel fuel to natural gas? That move could save each and every household hundreds of dollars a year on their electric bills.
Instead, management wants to commit tens of millions of dollars on an ill-conceived solar scheme in Anahola.
We are currently 90 percent dependent on fossil fuels to generate electricity on Kaua’i. I’m all for shifting to renewable energy sources. I put my money where my mouth is by installing rooftop solar at my home.
But the attitude at KIUC appears to be “go green ASAP and the hell with how much people pay for electricity.”
How else do you explain KIUC’s very recent willingness to pay 20 cent per kilowatt hour for solar power for which Mainland utilities are paying 12 cents?
Allan Rachap
Koloa
