• What is KIUC doing to develop alternatives? • Navy could share food • Kaua‘i tap water is pretty good • Cat left out of path debate • Vacation rentals out of control on North Shore What is KIUC doing
• What is KIUC doing to develop alternatives? • Navy could share food • Kaua‘i tap water is pretty good • Cat left out of path debate • Vacation rentals out of control on North Shore
What is KIUC doing to develop alternatives?
Here we go again.
The cost of imported fossil fuel is heading upward, and with that awful disaster polluting the Gulf of Mexico’s waters and shorelines of several states with oil gushing incessantly with no end in sight, one can’t help but wonder how much higher we will be charged.
In the mean time, we see virtually nothing on the horizon in the actualizing of alternative renewable energy projects presumably in KIUC’s (Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative) portfolio of “announced” considerations.
In reviewing the timelines and benchmarks of what KIUC presumably has done, what, really, has been accomplished?
With PMRF (U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands near Kekaha) and the Marriott’s serious considerations to get off the KIUC grid, will rate charges shoot up higher for those who are held hostage as rate payers who can’t afford to do likewise?
If this is the trend, should there be a serious search for other considerations to remedy the situation? Perhaps, for instance, having another entity and/or arrangement meet and deliver our energy needs and demands other than sticking with the antiquated system that coerces us to remain with the dependency on imported fossil fuel?
It cannot and should not be the “only way to go.”
Jose Bulatao Jr., Kekaha
Navy could share food
Since Kaua‘i’s primary industry, the fragile tourist industry, is being hit hard in the current economic downslide…jobless numbers are growing, homeless numbers are growing, the number of kids going hungry is growing…we are left with the second largest industry: the U.S. military.
We have, here on Kaua‘i, a military base which is still strong economically. 54% of our tax dollar goes to support it. Perhaps, with all that money, they could come to the aid of a suffering people. The base exchange at PMRF (U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands near Kekaha) will still be full of food. Our troops will have housing and jobs. We know that and support that, but, maybe, there is something more, something special, something extraordinarily patriotic they can contribute.
Obviously they cannot house the homeless nor employee the increasing number of jobless, but they could tighten their belts. Supposing a quarter of the food supplies sent to the exchange…with our money … were given to the hungry kids of Kaua‘i? The military bosses could certainly push the idea that feeding children so they grow up to be strong enough to die in these endless wars for profit is a good idea and it would be an easy sell. Just think of the good will! Handsome recruiters in their neat new uniforms would enjoy sharing their food with kids, don’t you think? And how proud the base commander would be of this bold new move.
Just a humble suggestion.
Bettejo Dux, Kalaheo
Kaua‘i tap water is pretty good
Recently I saw a free film sponsored by the Surfrider Foundation called “Tapped.” I wish that everyone on Kaua‘i would see this movie because it is so important. It contains information that I’m willing to guess very few are aware. It is a documentary on bottled water and the problems that have grown from the bottled-water industry.
Probably the most-well-known problem with plastics is the oceanic “garbage patches” that are being discovered in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. According to the movie most of this garbage is plastic water bottles. Hence the need to stop buying bottled water. Another important point that was not mentioned in the movie is Kaua‘i’s burgeoning landfill. We don’t have a lot of extra space to put our garbage. And we all know we don’t want the landfill in our backyard nor do we want to swim in it. Luckily it turns out our tap water on Kaua‘i is pretty good. And probably is better than what you buy in the bottle that has to be shipped here and on the long trip over the plastic leaches into the water leaving toxic chemicals in it. So when you are on the go just take a stainless steel or glass container and fill it from the tap or water filter. This is a really important issue. We cannot put off dealing with it any longer. To find out more about it go to www.surfrider.org. And drink tap water!
Rebecca Miller, Anahola
Cat left out of path debate
My cat wants to know if I can take him for a walk on the bike path. He is feeling very discriminated against.
Roger Olsen, Lihu‘e
Vacation rentals out of control on North Shore
Please do not use the proliferation of vacation rentals as a justification for something. I do not know the Daniells, but have great respect for people who work hard to support our communities which in addition to the Daniells, includes the Hanalei community association. I do not doubt that both sides are good community members, but it is obvious that there are issues. For many of us here on the North Shore the out-of-control vacation-rental business is a major problem and has done serious harm to our neighborhood.
Judy Bunch, Hanalei
