ENVIRONMENT

WE SHOULD ALL WORK TO REDUCE CARBON DIOXIDE

I am 9 years old. I do not want to live on a storm-ridden planet, where thousands die every year and the temperature never drops below 100 degrees!

I just watched the movie "An Inconvenient Truth," which everyone should watch.

Since the icecaps are melting and heat is being trapped in the ocean, storms are bigger and do more damage.

Legislators should make laws to reduce Hawai'i's carbon dioxide emissions. Doing this would probably cause people in other parts of the world to reduce the emissions, too.

Fellow kids, you're going to be living on this planet when you grow up! Get to work!

LILI'UOKALANI

QUEEN CAN'T BE LINKED WITH KING, GANDHI

This year, Hawaiian independence zealots are once again linking Queen Lili'uokalani with Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. Shame!

The only thing she shares with King and Gandhi is being imprisoned by governments headed by Caucasians.

The queen conspired with Robert Wilcox in an 1889 coup attempt against King Kalakaua — seven men killed, palace bungalow blown up. Nonviolence?

In the 1893 revolution the queen surrendered without a fight. That does not make her a practitioner of nonviolent resistance or satyagraha.

She again conspired with Wilcox in the 1895 attempted counter-revolution. Guns and bombs were hidden in the flower bed at her home, Washington Place. For that violent crime she was sentenced to prison. King's only "crime" was parading without a permit.

King's prison was a small dirty dungeon with bars and snarling guard dogs. The queen's "prison" was a huge room at 'Iolani Palace with full-time maidservant and craft supplies (quilting and song-writing).

The queen was head of a multiracial government who used her great power pursuing racial supremacy — "my people" referred to her race rather than her multiracial subjects. King and Gandhi never held government power. Unlike the queen, they created lofty universal principles of multiracial unity and equality.

BISHOP MUSEUM

WILLIAM BROWN WILL BE DIFFICULT TO REPLACE

Advertiser staff writer Will Hoover is to be commended for his review of William Brown's many accomplishments as president and chief executive officer of Bishop Museum ("Bishop Museum tries headhunting," Dec. 30).

Well-liked and respected by staff and others concerned about Bishop Museum's questionable future — the legacy of controversy, internal upheaval and precarious finances left by the previous administration — Brown will be difficult to replace.

He arrived with the credentials needed to return the museum to its intended mission of preserving and interpreting its world-famous collections, expanding general education objectives and doing its best to serve the Native Hawaiian community.

When Bishop Museum's institutional history is ultimately written, Brown's tenure, though unfortunately brief, will emerge as a high point during a critical period.

As The Advertiser's editorial ("Bishop Museum must build on Brown legacy," Jan. 5) concluded, "Hawai'i owes thanks to Brown for his contribution. The importance of his work will become even clearer with passage of time."

BUSH

PRESIDENT SHOULD BE IMPEACHED OVER IRAQ

President George W. Bush's Jan. 10 call to deploy more troops to Iraq certified his rejection of the key elements of the Iraq Study Group.

Let this be the first step in his impeachment by the new 2007 Congress. His errors in judgment and leadership, which have resulted in the loss of more than 3,000 American lives and severely degraded the "American image" throughout the world are far more serious than the impeachment charges made against former presidents Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.

We can no longer tolerate him thumbing his nose at the vast majority of the citizens of our country, and arrogantly disregarding similar opposition by most other nations of the world, many of which were former allies.

He is the root cause of the monumental mess we are in at home, in Iraq and throughout the world. He is obviously not going to change.

Therefore, we must impeach him before he drags us down to where we won't feel as proud to be American as we were just a few years ago (before he became president and led us down the tubes).

HISTORY

BUSH WORST PRESIDENT? CONSIDER HARDING, LBJ

Letter writer Henry Kim (Jan. 12) possibly considers only recent history when suggesting Bush will be the worst president in history.

Perhaps he should read of Warren Harding, who would never have stood up to the current level of media scrutiny.

Or consider Lyndon B. Johnson, who was responsible for costing tens of thousands of American lives by his administration's deception.

Apply today's transparency standards to historical presidents and Mr. Kim may be surprised — unless he chooses to ignore fact.

CITY BUSES

DRIVERS NOT RUNNING RED LIGHTS INTENTIONALLY

In response to the Jan. 9 letter about city buses running red lights: As a rider, I always sit in the front where I am able to see the traffic flow. What I have been able to observe is that, overall, the bus operators do not run red lights.

Because bus drivers have to operate below the speed limit to make frequent stops along their routes, they often enter the intersection below the posted speed limits. They enter when the light is green or amber and the light changes to red while they are still in the intersection because they are not moving fast enough.

This makes them appear to have run the red light.

These traffic lights are timed to be driven through at the speed limit.

The way to remedy this is to increase the duration of the amber light on bus routes to allow buses to exit the intersection before the light turns red.

'EWA

ELECTED OFFICIAL WORKS FOR HOUSING DEVELOPER

The editorial "Keep a broad view in planning for Ho'opili" Jan. 10) is refreshing.

The 'Ewa plain, particularly the 'Ewa Beach area has long been a symbol of runaway development without sufficient planning for infrastructure.

Unfortunately for all of us, the fox is guarding the henhouse.

Our state Sen. Willie Espero, who has been in office almost 10 years, has been a developer's dream. He has cleared the path for Gentry and Haseko developers to push through their projects regardless of community harm.

Maybe not so coincidentally, Espero was only recently hired in "community relations" by D.R. Horton, which wants to build 11,700 more homes in the 'Ewa plain but must first push through the state Land Use Commission and city planning department.

Most people in 'Ewa Beach see this as it really is, a conflict of interest.

How is it possible for the people who have suffered so greatly from development to catch a break when their elected officials work for the developers?

MAUNA KEA

PAN-STARRS CAN HELP PROTECT OUR PLANET

While astronomy is an esoteric subject for many, the proposed Pan-STARRS project is of vital concern to protect us from rogue asteroids (with resulting monster tsunamis).

By replacing the existing University of Hawai'i 88-inch telescope on Mauna Kea, the "asteroid tracker" will be a logical compromise by not adding further structures to the summit.

NASA and other science entities are developing ways to divert such asteroids based on early warnings from this proposed telescope.

UH science faculty, students and the community should be proud of Hawai'i's leading role in protecting our planet.

ENERGY

HECO'S POWER PLAN SHOULD BE REJECTED

Hawaiian Electric Co.'s energy plan is rightfully coming under fire, as noted by Advertiser science writer Jan TenBruggencate (Page B1, Jan. 8).

HECO wants to build a new power plant on O'ahu, and claims it will be run on biofuel — ethanol, or biodiesel. HECO isn't moving forward; it simply is creating another environmental problem.

Remember, HECO is 92 percent dependent on fossil fuel to power our islands. This is the largest fossil fuel addiction in any state in the nation. Instead of spending time developing renewable energy systems, like large-scale wind and solar projects, or tapping ocean power, HECO has remained oil-addicted.

HECO now claims many renewable energy technologies are "unproven," so it must use ethanol or biodiesel. Don't be fooled by HECO's claim. First, there are a number of proven renewable energy systems available. Second, as noted by TenBruggencate, HECO's proposed new plant would also be able to burn "fossil fuels such as diesel and naphtha."

As to biofuels, environmental groups warn that using rainforests and agricultural lands for fuel will cause a worldwide negative impact. Furthermore, more energy will be used than produced in growing and processing these crops, resulting in a net energy loss.

Should we "excuse" HECO for failing to adopt true renewable energy systems, or reward the laggard utility by approving another power plant — one capable of operating on diesel and naphtha?

Look at Mainland utilities that have significant percentages of renewables in their portfolio. Look at the proven renewables available in Hawai'i: wind, solar, ocean.

The answer to HECO's request is simple: No.