Unattainable goals
This is regarding “Avoiding blackouts” by Mark A. Koppel (Your Views, Sept. 7).
Let’s start out by stating that every tipping point the climate change group warned us about has never happened. They have been wrong 100% of the time, yet we are all supposed to believe that they have the answers to climate change and how to fix it.
They are pushing us politically toward renewables. According to Koppel, the target for 2030 is 50% renewable electricity. Six-plus years from now, we are going to have 50% renewable? Another climate goal we will never see.
The cost to achieve this will require a massive capital outlay: Hawaii has unfunded liabilities of $88 billion over the next 30 years. This is to cover infrastructure, pensions, health insurance, climate change.
We have been putting very little, if any, money toward this. Now, add to that the massive capital investment required for renewable energy, and you can see the difficulties we will face. And it will be the lower-income families that will suffer.
Hawaii is not rich. There will be great pain trying to achieve these renewable goals. Also, you need a fossil fuel, or carbon-free nuclear, backup to make up for those low energy production periods.
Bjorn Lundberg (Google him) is a good source of a practical approach toward climate change, instead of the current hair-on-fire attitude.
The fact that “climate scientists now say that climate change is happening more quickly than they had thought” indicates they don’t have a handle on what they are talking about, they never did, or there tipping points would have happened.
Remember, they have a 100% record of being wrong and never proving any of their claims. Correlation, climate scientists main form of attempted proof, is not causation.
Roger Schweitzer
Volcano
One-sided story
This letter is to express my disapproval of the Tribune-Herald’s mainly one-sided article published Sept 2. about Randy Kunimoto. I question the quality control performed at your company to prevent the spread of such misinformation, which ultimately led to defamation against Randy.
Misinformation 1: Complainants’ accusations. Randy mitigated complaints by permanently cutting hours of operations. He also communicated to the parents about speed, etc.
Misinformation 2: Excessive traffic. I am a civil engineer, and in my opinion, eight additional cars an hour on a lightly traveled street with wide shoulders like Mele Manu would not constitute excessive traffic. In comparison, my residential street sees up to 31 cars every 10 minutes (186 cars per) during rush hours.
Misinformation 3: No support from Mele Manu residents. I know of multiple residents in Mele Manu that support Randy.
Randy should be commended for his positive influence on his junior students. He not only teaches the game fundamentals, but also how to play the game with good conduct. He also encourages the older ones to mentor the younger kids under his guidance. I’ve witnessed many junior players develop into formidable teenagers and adults through his program.
Lastly, I question the motivation of writing such an article against Randy. Although “tennis a menace” is a precocious phrase for a newspaper, I can think of more constructive stories. For example, Randy came to support the Labor Day Tennis Tournament in Kona, where many of his students, ages 11 to 16, played their hearts out in the blazing Kona heat.
Many placed high in their divisions if not taking the championship within a field of top players from outer islands. I believe an article like this would be more illuminating to the Hilo community.
Lance Sewake
Hilo