Waste to energy just like Oahu
Day after day we read about the recycling problem on the Big Island. Instead of finding fault in an already broken program, one should look at an alternative such as waste to energy.
Oahu has been operating a waste to energy incineration plant since 1990. Oahu’s H-Power waste to energy plant at Campbell Industrial Park produces 10% of Oahu’s energy and reduces the volume of refuse going to the landfill by 90%.
What a perfect time to look into opening a facility at the West Hawaii landfill. All of the islands refuse will be going there because Hilo’s landfill is about to close. If recycling certain items is cost prohibitive than use it as fuel at our own waste to energy plant.
Instead of hearing we have landfill space for another 100 years, let’s make our landfill last for hundreds of years. Food for thought.
Larry Ostini
Kailua-Kona
Yes and no…
Jonah Goldberg’s editorial of Nov. 13 in West Hawaii Today is entitled: “Shaking down the rich is bad for democracy.”
Yes and no …
One way to satisfy every one, every candidate of every party, every citizen from the far right to the far left is this: TVA.
TVA stands for “taxe a la valeur ajoutee” in French, or “value added tax.”
It is simple, it is efficient and highly democratic. It taxes those who like to self-indulge, those who think that what costs more is best, those who like to pamper themselves with luxurious items, those who will pay any price for something they want. And why not?
The value added tax is a hidden tax: if one wants to buy a Hermes bag (which cost is equivalent to six-months’ pay for a restaurant server here in Kona), fine. Buy the bag, and 75% of the price of that bag ends up in the coffers of the government. The purchaser is happy, the government is happy. Same thing for a bottle of Channel No. 5 perfume.
In short, the value added tax is determined upon the necessity of the item. It starts very high and gradually comes down to 0% for a carton of milk.
If one can’t live without it, pay for it. Indulge and save the democratic system!
Catherine Gandilhon
Keauhou
Time to impeach, period
With all the huhu, it’s hard to focus on what caused the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
Simply stated: Russia and Ukraine are at war. In the last five years, thousands of people have been killed in this conflict which began as an act of aggression by Putin against a sovereign nation. The United States has supported Ukraine because it is in the clear national security interest of the American people to provide assistance when an ally’s borders are violated.
But President Trump decided to play a dangerous game with this ally for his personal political gain — one that put the security of our nation, and that of many others around the world, at risk.
It’s crazy to think that Trump and those closest to him have admitted to a quid pro quo (aka, “a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something”), and, yet, there’s still doubt and denial from some quarters of his guilt.
Trump has never had an understanding of his obligation to the rule of law, democracy, and the American public, and he continues to flaunt that ignorance. It’s time for all members of Congress to come together to impeach and remove this president and his band of thieves from our nation’s highest office to protect us and our allies from a man whose thinking is consistently and perilously focused on himself.
Janice Glennie
Kailua-Kona
