‘Enough already’
You can’t be for working families and for the zombie putative tree-cutting-and-burning Honua Ola power plant.
It’s ironic that some labor unions, which claim to be advocates for working families, support the Honua Ola project in Peepeekeo.
According to filings from Hawaiian Electric submitted to the Public Utilities Commission and publicly available on the PUC docket website, their analysis shows that this project will cost Hawaii ratepayers at least $13 per month more than alternatives. That’s right — more than $150 a year for every electric-bill-paying resident of the island that we would all have to pay if this project is approved under a, get this, 30-year power purchase contract.
And enough already with Honua Ola’s relentless PR efforts spamming people’s inboxes with weekly fearmongering as they try to slam the reliability of other more green and affordable energy resources. Why do they have to try so hard?
With the availability of significantly lower cost geothermal, ample solar and wind, battery storage technology that is cheaper and better every day, and other new technologies on the horizon, there is no need to force these exorbitant costs on Hawaii Island residents.
The billionaire investors in California and Delaware shell companies that are behind this project are counting on Hawaii being a backwater filled with uninformed locals who they can take advantage of. Let’s show them they’re wrong.
Enough already.
Pierre Davet
Hilo
Praise for Gallagher
I wish to share my appreciation of the article by the vice principal of Pahoa High and Intermediate School, Brandon Gallagher (Tribune-Herald, Their Views, Feb. 2).
It is well-written and offers an on-site description of the recent affray at PHIS. He has a good understanding of the students with which he works and of the dynamics of his community.
As a long-term teacher of secondary students with disabilities, I have witnessed time and again the bullying and anger and frustration that can occur in a school. Although the populations have different issues, any group judged as different and/or weaker can be belittled and made feel less.
Although the situation is complex and difficult, the staff and students at PHIS are fortunate to have Mr. Gallagher as an administrator, and I suspect his caring is reflected by them all.
Maureen Russill
Pahoa
Regarding tattoos
Rochelle delaCruz’s Jan. 31 opinion piece on the overuse and fad-like nature of modern tattoos likely resonates with many people, especially in an older demographic, but implying a Polynesian preeminence for the art form does a disservice to ethnolinguistic groups that have longstanding tattooing traditions that evolved independently and far from the Pacific islands.
John Atwell
Kurtistown
