Support water cremation in Hawaii
I strongly support HB 1894 and SB 2828, which will introduce water cremation in Hawaii.
I have dedicated 40 years of my life to public service, as a college professor, state legislator, and as a trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
This technology will give us more freedom to decide how to treat the remains of our loved ones. Thanks to the leadership of Aloha Mortuary, our lawmakers now have the opportunity to make water cremation available to the people of Hawaii.
This cannot come too soon.
This practice is available in more than 20 other states in the country. UCLA’s School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester have been using it for some years now. Alkaline hydrolysis is being used by researchers worldwide because it is a very reliable way of destroying the dangerous, transmissible pathogenic agents that cause neurodegenerative diseases.
For these reasons, I strongly support the passage of these bills and look forward to water cremation as a burial practice made available in Hawaii.
Dr. Malama Solomon
Waimea
^
No public purpose in granting special favors
In spite of expensive PR efforts and lots of spending on attorneys, Honua Ola has a fatal flaw, they are too darned expensive. That means higher rates for all users of electricity.
Approving the company’s proposed contract is a really bad deal. The state Consumer Advocate has already pointed this out. It is also behind all their efforts to get a waiver from the legally mandated competitive process. The PUC has actually opened the door with a Phase 3 solicitation for renewable energy, but it isn’t a door they can walk through.
The contract has another negative impact as the “must run” provision would cause curtailment of cheaper renewables. The grid would have to take their more expensive power at the expense of solar and wind farms charging less. Those firms fairly competed and would lose revenue as the Consumer Advocate has pointed out.
There is no public purpose in granting special favors to Honua Ola and no reason why we should all be forced to pay more.
Steve Holmes
Kailua-Kona
^
Harmful column
I would like to comment on Katherine Drabiak’s opinion column on treatment of unvaccinated people, which appeared in West Hawaii Today on Feb. 5. It was a surprise to me to find such a muddled and unclear essay from a professor in a university.
The main point of the essay is that public disapproval or shaming of unvaccinated people is “based on their status rather than conduct,” and that this violates “human rights” and “the rule of law.”
Ms. Drabiak’s distinction between “status” and “conduct” makes no sense. Unvaccinated people do have the “status” of unvaccinated people, but they also engage in the “conduct” of choosing not to be vaccinated.
The muddle of this column aside, the column is essentially harmful in attempting to place great onus on the public sentiment of disapproval of refusing to be vaccinated. Whether this refusal stems from confusion, ignorance, or political view, it is very harmful to the public. Unvaccinated people are prone to contracting the coronavirus, which fills emergency rooms and provides a breeding ground for variants. Let us hope that eventually these people make the reasonable choice to be vaccinated.
Mike Keller
Kailua-Kona
^
Letters policy
Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less and will be edited for style and grammar. Longer viewpoint guest columns may not exceed 800 words. Submit online at /?p=118321 or via email to letters@westhawaiitoday.com.