As small as this program is, those with solar water heaters are ineligible, even those of us in Windward O'ahu where sunshine is not so bountiful parts of the year. And there is no program to limit air-conditioning use during peak demand intervals.

Encouraging the use of solar-heated hot water and fluorescent lighting is helpful, but why doesn't HECO incentivize the full gamut of techniques?

PROPERTY TAX

COUNCIL HAS AUTHORITY TO BRING BACK SANITY

Mayor Hannemann and various members of the City Council have offered solutions to the property tax increases caused by the rapid rise in assessed valuations. However, these recommendations ignore the fastest, easiest-to-understand solution for next fiscal year's tax payments (2007) and this year as well.

First, the City Council should lower the tax rate this year to take effect in 2007. For many of us, that rate before exemptions is $3.75 times the assessed valuation. Reduce the tax rate and taxes go down.

Next, for taxes due and paid in 2006, the council should mandate a refund, the details of which can be calculated after discussions with the city administration concerning unmet needs, inflation, "rainy day" funds and the like.

The basic objective should be to lower the property tax burden, which has gotten out of hand. The City Council only needs to use its existing authority to get the job done.

LINGLE SPEECH

OMITTING EXCISE TAX INCREASE DECEIVING

Gov. Lingle noted in the State of the State speech: "This proposal alone (an increase in the standard deduction and tax brackets), however, is not enough to make a real difference for families coping with higher housing costs, higher property taxes, higher car registration taxes, higher gasoline prices, higher electricity rates, higher water and sewer bills, higher medical bills and higher food prices."

Wonder how the governor neglected to mention the January 2007 general excise tax increase of 12.5 percent for the 900,000 citizens of O'ahu? Did the governor forget that the GET increase is only there because she supported letting the county surcharge tax authority go into effect? Maybe it was left out of the listing because, after all, it does not come into effect until after the 2006 election.

The GET increase alone will take over $450 per year per family, minimum, by raising rents, gas and phone taxes, medical and food costs and absolutely everything else in Hawai'i that comes to Honolulu by ship or plane.

Yes, it is easy to speak about all the good and great things the government is doing or will now do with the excess revenue. But let us not forget that the taxpayer pays the bill, and it is the taxpayer who deserves the credit and respect for this revenue "surplus." Playing word games that take credit for tax relief while avoiding the blame for tax increases is not showing respect for the taxpayer; it is deceiving the taxpayer.

'AHI TUNA

MERCURY 'POISONING' NOTHING TO PANIC OVER

Warning that eating 'ahi tuna can expose Hawai'i residents to mercury levels above "the EPA's recommended limit" is irresponsible and indicates a serious misunderstanding of science (" 'Ahi mercury levels higher than thought, FDA says," Jan. 24).

The EPA's "limit" for mercury has a tenfold margin of safety built-in. This means we would have to exceed it 10 times over before worrying about theoretical health risks from trace amounts of mercury in fish.

It's customary for government regulators to add safety factors to health advisories, and it's sensible to do so when we're talking about lead in paint or cyanide in our drinking water. But fish is a healthy food.

In 2005, a team of Harvard researchers found that overreacting to government health advisories (and eating less fish) is a greater health risk than anything we have to fear from mercury.

Over a dozen big-budget environmental groups, including the Turtle Island Restoration Network, are needlessly scaring Americans with wild tales of fish-related mercury poisoning. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, absolutely zero Americans have enough mercury in their bodies to constitute a real health concern.

ABERCROMBIE

AKAKA ISN'T THE ONLY ONE FACING OPPOSITION

Unknown to many throughout Hawai'i was that before Rep. Ed Case announced his challenge to Sen. Akaka, the Hawai'i congressional delegation was not without primary challengers. Quietly a veteran of the global war on terror was running against Rep. Neil Abercrombie and drawing conservative and independent support.

This same candidate, Noah Hough, and his staff have come to the conclusion that in no way is it possible that Hawai'i voters are going to replace simultaneously all three of its federal delegates up for re-election this year. Therefore, their plans to emerge in March with a strong message for change have been overcome by events.

But, Noah Hough is not a quitter. Having received messages of support from throughout Hawai'i and the United States, this veteran has begun to analyze information on the new battle developing to replace Rep. Case. With such a large number of contenders, his unique position as a conservative Democrat could draw enough attention to put a scare in the party establishment.

NO URBAN LEGEND

‘SUPERWEEDS’ ALREADY A PROBLEM

Before declaring herbicide-resistant “superweeds” and horizontal gene transfer urban legends as Mr. Don Gerbig suggests in his letter of Jan. 28, we should examine biotech industry data.

According to Purdue University, herbicide-resistant horseweed first appeared in a few isolated incidents in Delaware and Tennessee during the summer of 2000. By the end of the 2002 cropping season, 400,000 acres in Tennessee alone were infested.

In the 2004 Syngenta Crop Protection Guidelines, it is stated that more than 2 million acres of herbicide-resistant horseweed alone have been confirmed in Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky and western Tennessee.This is hardly a rare occurrence.

Herbicide-resistant horseweed is a particular problem with GMO soybeans. The USDA notes “Soybean growers rely heavily on (the herbicide) glyphosate. This past spring, the USDA estimated that 83 percent of the nation’s soybean acres would be planted in Roundup-tolerant (GMO) varieties.

In a 2003 Syngenta-sponsored survey of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, the importance of the elimination of herbicide-resistant weeds increased from 53 percent in 2002 to 71 percent in 2003.

The glyphosate weed-resistance problem is so acute that it is a determining factor in rental values and land appraisals for farmers. Superweeds are already an on-farm reality, and beside horseweed, other herbicide-tolerant varieties include ryegrass, foxtail, barnyard grass and water hemp.

Like the oil industry’s refusal to acknowledge global warming, the biotech industry ignores the scientific study supporting cross-pollination and horizontal gene transfer in GMOs. Scientific research on these two issues is one of the reasons many countries in Europe, Asia and Africa ban GMOs, require labeling and have them strictly regulated.

The biotech solution is to apply more and different highly toxic herbicides to these super-weeds, which they sell to the farmers.

As of 2004, GMO products contributed to an increase of 138 million pounds of herbicides used since 1996. It is no coincidence that weeds rapidly developed a resistance to the same herbicide that the GMOs are engineered to resist. The artificial constructs created by genetic engineering are designed to cross species barriers and jump into genomes.

Instead of jumping into the realm of urban legend, the attempt to trivialize this important concern falls flat on its face.