SILVER STAR

TROOPS REMIND US WE ARE BLESSED TO LIVE HERE

As an expatriate Texan, I was thrilled to learn that our country's fourth-highest military honor, the Silver Star, will be awarded to a 19-year old woman from Lake Jackson, Texas — Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown of the 82nd Airborne — for charging through gunfire and explosions, using her own body as a shield, to pull out wounded soldiers in Afghanistan.

Monica is the second woman since World War II and the first woman in Afghanistan to win the Silver Star. That's the kind of story that brings tears to the eyes and reminds us how blessed we are to live in a country where people so young are willing to place themselves as a living sacrifice upon the altar of our freedom.

We should do our part back home to make ourselves a nation worth defending by supporting our troops, telling our elected officials that we want them equipped with the best gear money can buy and living with patriotism toward these United States of America. God bless the U.S.A., and God bless you, Monica!

ENERGY

ALLOW SOLAR FACILITIES ON LOW-QUALITY AG LAND

A recent editorial posed the question: "Is it possible to move aggressively toward energy independence without being reckless about it?" ("Energy bills should keep environmental balance," March 16)

At Castle & Cooke Hawai'i, we believe the answer is yes. And we applaud the Legislature for considering several bold initiatives that would help the state meet its energy independence goals sooner rather than later.

We were glad to see that The Honolulu Advertiser is in support of some of these initiatives.

However, we want to clear up your confusion about HB 2502, which would allow solar facilities on lower-quality agricultural land. Suggesting that this bill would "further erode our struggling agriculture industry with one stroke" is not true.

Even if the state decided to get all of its energy from solar, only a very small percentage of Hawai'i's 1.9 million-plus acres of agricultural land would be utilized.

For example, our planned 10-acre solar farm on Lana'i would utilize less than one-tenth of one percent of the 43,000 acres of Class D and E ag land on the island, of which more than 30,000 acres are fallow. And we are not displacing any farming operations. This marginal impact on lower-quality ag land would supply 10 percent of Lana'i's electricity needs and reduce imported oil consumption by more than 1,500 barrels per year. Hypothetically, a 100-acre solar farm could meet 100 percent of Lana'i's electricity needs and still utilize less than one percent of Class D and E ag land.

HB 2502 gets us one step closer to reducing our reliance on imported oil and it does so with minimal impact to our environment. We think it is reasonable to allow solar facilities on lower-quality agricultural land and hope that there is support to pass this important bill.

NOT 'GREEN' UNLESS IT CONSUMES LESS ENERGY

This is in response to the March 18 article about Nordstrom's new ice storage facility with the headline, "Green air conditioning at Ala Moana."

There is nothing "green" about providing air conditioning for the new 210,000-square-foot Nordstrom store at Ala Moana.

The primary benefit of using an ice storage system is a lower energy bill for the business because HECO offers lower off-peak rates.

Unless HECO is using more environmentally friendly generators during off-peak hours, how will it be significantly better?

The overall energy consumption of an A/C system with ice storage is often the same as a regular system since the system also must produce the ice.

Unless a system uses significantly less energy overall, it is, in my opinion, not a green system.

There are, however, technologies such as seawater air conditioning that can be used to lower the energy consumption of cooling systems significantly. One such SWAC-based district cooling system is now being planned for Downtown Honolulu: HSWAC. The project will use deep, cool seawater, pumped through a pipeline to take the majority of the thermal load required by the buildings connected to the system.

Let's hope the project becomes a reality so Hawai'i can reduce its dependency on imported oil. According to the HSWAC's Web site, "the 25,000-ton HSWAC downtown project will reduce crude oil imports by more than 145,000 barrels per year."

Let's preserve the meaning of "Going Green" by using the term only for technologies that offer the most energy-efficient solutions for Hawai'i.

EDUCATION

ARE WE SAYING SPORTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT?

Newspapers in general, and The Advertiser is no exception, devote an inordinate amount of space to sports, including high school sports.

More space should be allotted to educational stories, such as the winner of the spelling bee. The Advertiser sponsored the spelling bee and thus an article appeared about the winner.

Win the Mathcounts competition — the winning team wins an all-expenses-paid trip to Denver in May and represents Hawai'i in the national finals — and nary a mention is made.

Mathcounts is sponsored by NASA and major American corporations including Lockheed Martin and the Raytheon Corporation.

Someone submitted an article, which was printed only in the MyAdvertiser online edition. Was that not considered newsworthy to make the print edition?

Perennial winners Punahou and 'Iolani were dethroned by a public school, Waiakea Middle School. Waiakea's only other victory occurred in the inaugural competition 25 years ago. It was similar to Leilehua High winning the state football championship this year after years of drought.

Win a local weekly ball game and you get your picture in the paper. Prove yourself No. 1 in the state in an educational endeavor and you might be mentioned in the paper, but usually not.

What are we telling our kids? Are sports more important than education? It appears so.

SEWAGE

CITY SHOULD STOP ITS STALLING ON TREATMENT

The City and County of Honolulu cannot argue against the Environmental Protection Agency's mandate to upgrade when its own monitoring data indicate that it doesn't consistently meet receiving water quality standards.

This is a basic public health issue. It is putting the public at risk. It continues to mislead the public on the cost to upgrade by including numbers that are associated with increased capacity.

It is time that the City Council and the media call it on this and ask for an actual breakdown of its claims of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Honouliuli, for instance, already treats a portion of its flows to tertiary and has included secondary in all of its expansion.

The EPA isn't fooled by any of this. It seems more of a public relations game. The lying to the public should end, and decades of stalling should, too.

MAINTENANCE

CITY SHOULD MONITOR KAIMUKI PARKING LOT

I recently parked in the parking lot between 11th and 12th avenues in Kaimuki.

It was my understanding that the private contractor was responsible for maintaining the lot to include removal of parking meters and repaving. Well, that was done, but the lot was strewn with leaves, broken branches and trash.

Most of the rubbish was blown up against the curb between the cars. Shouldn't the city periodically inspect the lot to ensure it is being maintained, and not sit back and just collect revenues?

TRAFFIC CONGESTION

IN AN ACCIDENT? PULL CARS OUT OF ROADWAY

Recently, while traveling down the H-1, I noticed two cars stopped on the opposite side in the fast lane. Both drivers were out of their cars and talking on mobile phones. It was obvious that they had been in a minor traffic accident. Both cars looked like they could be pulled off the freeway, but apparently the two drivers didn't notice the seven or eight miles (and growing) of backed-up cars.

I have also witnessed this kind of action by HPD at accident scenes. In most other states, they pull the cars all the way off the freeway and sort out the details. The damage usually tells enough of the story for insurance to figure out who's at fault.

I feel bad for the situation that accident victims find themselves in — but what about the thousands of cars that have to wait in these unbearable traffic jams because of a fender bender?

If you are unlucky enough to be in an accident, please don't make the rest of us be unlucky because we were behind you. Pull out of the way.

HEALTHCARE

HMSA MUST CHANGE POLICY REGARDING DOCS

I have had both knees replaced by a well-known orthopedic surgeon here. As far as I'm concerned, he walks on water. Sadly, he no longer accepts private insurance carriers, an unacceptable situation.

Sure, I can pay out-of-pocket and wait forever for a reimbursement, but as a retiree that is unacceptable.

What is the sense of having an insurance company that cannot keep excellent doctors in its programs? I'm sure the CEO for HMSA has no problem getting paid. It's another example of dwindling resources in our state. I lost the surgeon who operated on my neck to the Mainland. I don't want to lose this surgeon, too.

I think it is about time HMSA and other insurance carriers change their attitude and policy with local physicians.

The Legislature is also responsible. Where is the justice for the hard-working people in this state? The fat cats get richer, the Legislature refuses to act and the people suffer. Go figure.