Connect the climate
dots this summer
Summer is just starting, and already we are smashing heat records.
In May 2018, every state in the U.S. experienced above-average temperatures, and eight set records.
Last year was the third-hottest year on record, with many parts of the country experiencing oppressively hot days. And 2018 is likely to bring more of the same.
The frequency and severity of summer heat across the United States is being fueled by climate change.
This summer, I urge our trusted news sources like you to provide information about the relationship between extreme heat and climate change when reporting on heat waves and record-breaking heat.
Connecting the dots for readers between the extreme heat and our warming climate provides readers with important facts and context about what we are experiencing, and why we so urgently need to act to address it.
Moreover, the magnitude of the climate crisis, coupled with the availability of solutions, merits constant, high-quality media coverage to educate the public and spur robust discussion.
This summer, please cover climate. Thank you for your consideration.
Don Diedrick
Kailua-Kona
Pondering over clean
air room specifics
Just read about building clean air room for my house. It sounds like a good idea with all the vog. A few questions, though.
Do I need a building permit and must I hire an architect to design and stamp my blueprints? Will the county fast track this so I can finish before the volcano quits? Must I first convert my cesspool to a septic tank costing me many thousands of dollars like you must do when you want to add a room? How far away from the bomb shelter I built when Little Kim was threatening to nuke the Hawaiian Islands must it be?
And lastly, can I turn it into a vacation rental when the volcano stops?
James Duke
Honaunau
Kanuha not a good
West Hawaii advocate
I read your story today about the county council members who are on a three-day golfing junket to Waikiki, spending over $600 per person per day while our county is literally burning. This comes right after the council members approved huge raises for themselves and now there is a $5 million hole in the budget.
The fact that one of these feckless politicians, Dru Kanuha, wants to become our next senator is particularly troubling. Dru Kanuha has done little in his six years on the council other than collect a paycheck, and now he wants to fill the shoes of Sen. Josh Green? I don’t think so!
Kanuha’s first vote when he got on the council was to support Hilo Councilman J. Yoshimoto for council chair, totally against the interests of West Hawaii. As council chair himself, he refused to even hold a hearing about mayor Kenoi’s pCard misuse, much less reprimand the mayor.
Kanuha plays fast and loose with campaign contributions as well. He didn’t disclose (until after he was caught) getting two free flights from a group whose bill he was sponsoring. And one of his biggest campaign contributors over the years is Jimmy Arakaki, the Godfather of the Hilo Old-Boy machine.
If his record is any guide, Kanuha is not someone who will do a good job representing West Hawaii in the state Senate.
Matt Binder
Kamuela
Isn’t it a little suspect that Matt Binder of Kamuela is writing in about Dru Kanuha, who he hasn’t had the privilege of being represented by? I wonder if it has anything to do with Matt Binder being married to Brenda Ford’s campaign manager Lynn Beittel?
BUSTED!! Binder is just the mouthpiece of his wife and her client/friend Brenda against local Ford! Hypocrites…to try and make that Kanuha is connected to the so called “old boys”. It may be coincidental, but it is no different that Ford uses Binder/Beittel as her “old boys” network as well!!! Get a grip and stop trying to divide our island…..the way the guy in the white house is trying to divide our country…shame on you!! Dru has represented west hawaii well.