KAILUA

TURNING TOURISTS AWAY IS NOT THE RIGHT ANSWER

To those who want to turn tourists away and keep Kailua the way they think Kailua should be, I must ask that they go back in time and think about when they themselves were visitors. How would they feel if there were laws to restrict their access, make them feel unwelcome, prevent them from settling here?

Yes, there is this problem of increased traffic. However, to blame it on tourists is just not fair. Even if the tourists do contribute to the increase in traffic, couldn't it be because they have to travel from elsewhere to get to our beach since there are no hotel accommodations?

I don't think having a hotel in Kailua is bad. There could be a shuttle service to and from the airport, to and from the beach to reduce the need for rental cars.

For those who complain about bed and breakfasts, this should be the answer as there would be less of a demand for them if there were a hotel here. We will benefit economically from the tourism dollars while having a designated, well-regulated area for tourists where they can experience something different from Waikiki.

NAYSAYERS

MARATHON HELPS KEEP OUR ECONOMY RUNNING

Taking away the Honolulu Marathon would be taking away a most important thing. When marathoners come down here, they spend, spend, spend, RUN, spend and spend again!

And you know what? They talk (word of mouth) and more come back. It keeps our great state green, if you know what I mean.

Negative talk about the marathon will tarnish the Aloha State. If you think like that, that may just be the best time of the year for you to take your vacation off-island.

RACE START

MARATHON'S 'BOOM' WAS A RUDE AWAKENING

Having lived the last several years in 'Aina Haina, I'd come to accept that it's probably best not to make any plans to go anywhere on the Sunday of the Honolulu Marathon.

Several months ago, I moved back into town, and I correctly assumed that I would be able to avoid most of the traffic pitfalls that normally accompany the race. What I didn't bargain for, however, was being jolted from my bed by the loud explosions at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning. It took a little time to figure out what was going on and that the city wasn't under attack. It may seem strange, but I generally prefer to sleep at that time of the day.

I'm not questioning the value or necessity of hosting a marathon in our city, but are fireworks at 5 a.m. really necessary? Whose bright idea was that, anyway?

ENVIRONMENT

'ANCHOR BABY' LAW NEEDS TO BE CHANGED

I was horrified at your editorial in favor of "anchor babies."

Foreigners illegally come to the United States, have their babies here and do not pay their hospital bills, leaving the taxpayers to pay the huge tab. Then the babies are U.S. citizens who give the foreigners an excuse to file for residence in the U.S.A.

Why do you always speak so fondly of "family reunification," but it is reunification on this side of the border, not in the foreign country?

We have seen the endless chain of immigration over and over, as one gets into our country and brings in another, who brings in another. This is nuts.

The law as it now stands — with regard to anchor babies — can attract billions of people to come here from all over the world, to drop their babies here at our expense.

The real harm in immigration to the U.S.A. is that we are filled up, overpopulated, and the environment of our country suffers.

There is no easy answer to overpopulation, with its pollution of air and water and its production of huge amounts of garbage. But at least we can do our best to discourage immigration to this country.

The law with regard to anchor babies desperately needs to be changed. Your editorial was politically correct, and wrong in every other way.

MILITARY

PEARL HARBOR HEROES WORTH REMEMBERING

I have to commend Mr. Nishimoto on his well-placed remembrance of the personnel who died during the Pearl Harbor attack. They were heroes, just like the ones who fight today. But just like Pearl Harbor, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, remind us of who would like to see this country destroyed.

I hope that his remembrance is not one of a political kind, but one of a historical kind because anyone who knows anything about military history, or the military, would prefer to fight the battle from afar than fight one at home. Any other thought would be insane.

'LOST' ACTRESSES

PAPER WAS WRONG TO PUBLISH MUGSHOTS

It was a poor choice to publish the mugshots of the "Lost" actresses. I thought Hawai'i was different, not "waiting to pounce" like on the Mainland. I was wrong!

We can now refer to The Honolulu Advertiser as the Honolulu Inquirer. Where are our priorities? Surely, not in the humiliation of guests in our state.

We do all we can to get the TV and film industry to come here despite the cost, and then highlight errors in judgment made by a couple of cast members of a show that gives a lot of free publicity to Hawai'i.

As I said, a poor choice.

ASIA

LESS U.S.-CENTRIC VIEWPOINTS NEEDED

Regarding Ralph Cossa's Dec. 6 opinion piece on President Bush's Asia trip: It seems that Mr. Cossa has become a more or less regular contributor of his opinion on Asian foreign affairs to your newspaper. Readers might assume that Mr. Cossa, as president of an Asia-focused think-tank, analyzes international issues involving or affecting the United States from a neutral or balanced perspective. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case.

Indeed, Mr. Cossa continues to demonstrate a pro-U.S. bias in his pieces. For example, in this latest piece, he emphasizes the "missed opportunity" for "ganging up" on North Korea, under the biased assumption that it is Pyongyang that is responsible for the lack of progress in the six-party talks. But he neglects to mention that the contradictory positions within the U.S. government also are undermining the progress of the talks.

If The Advertiser is going to run Mr. Cossa's pieces on a regular basis, it should give equal opportunity to other, less U.S.-centric viewpoints.

DEMOCRATS STRIVE TO BE STEWARDS OF ENVIRONMENT

With an endless supply of Republican press release paper to defend big oil companies while residents are charged high gas prices, Gov. Linda Lingle's leadership in preserving Hawai'i's environment was the deafening silence of a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it.

While Congressman Neil Abercrombie acts to better preserve Kaka'ako, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye helps with funding to keep the Kawai Nui Marsh project alive and the Legislature's Democrats join to preserve Waimea Valley, the Lingle administration remains a deer in headlights, with no visible leadership in the newspaper stories on these vital land issues.

The Honolulu Advertiser editorial ("State Waimea plan a sensible proposal, Dec. 4) commends Rep. Brian Schatz for proposing the use of Legacy Lands Act money. While the newly enacted act may not be an option, the Legislature should invest preservation seed money to be repaid later.

When it comes to our environment, Democrats say to Republicans, "We can do better." North Shore Rep. Michael Magaoay and Democratic legislators stand ready to take action to better preserve Waimea Valley. In a more moral economy, it is right for the state and city to join forces to maintain Hawai'i's beauty and sustainability for future generations.

Thank you to the Audobon Society, Stewards of Waimea, North Shore Chamber of Commerce, The Outdoor Circle, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and residents statewide who continue to lead efforts to care for the ahupua'a that ancient Hawaiians lived and farmed for nearly a thousand years.

Without a take-charge administration that cares more about Hawai'i's environment, no wonder even Councilman Charles Djou was left asking, "I'd like for a white knight to come in ... (but) talk is cheap." We agree. That's why Democrats and other community leaders put on their armor and saddled up.

This year Dec. 7 was remembered for our brave veterans honored at Punchbowl's National Memorial Cemetery and the activists gathered at Punchbowl Street's City Hall.

GASOHOL LEGISLATION

LEAVE ETHANOL OUT OF GASOLINE

Beverly Tate may be a super race driver, but her commentary in The Advertiser's Cars section on Dec. 9 just reflected the shallow feel-good points made repeatedly in trying to justify the legislated mandate for ethyl alcohol in Hawai'i's gasoline (starting in April).

She misses several important chemical and economic aspects of gasohol. Alcohol's "high octane" does not necessarily mean high power; it is a measure of an engine's propensity to knock (detonate) on a particular fuel. Tate's statement that pure ethanol has an octane of 113 might be correct, but the energy per gallon of ethanol is one-third less than gasoline. In other words, you have to burn one-third more ethanol to get the same mileage.

Specialty cars (like the race cars she describes) can be designed to maximize the use of 100 percent ethanol, but passenger cars cannot be modified easily. Ethanol also absorbs water like a sponge and must be handled carefully. So our gasohol blend here is going to be 10 percent ethanol and the octane ratings will be exactly the same at the pump.

With respect to economics, I believe it is fair to say that every drop of ethanol worldwide that has ever been produced for motor fuel has been subsidized, either directly, through tax relief, or by higher prices.

Tax relief is how Hawai'i is doing it. Certain taxes that were formerly paid on gasoline are not going to be paid on ethanol, which means you and I are going to have to fund those tax dollars in some other way. And then there are the unseen myriad expensive infrastructure modifications, transportation and storage tank management issues associated with gasohol. You will ultimately pay for those, too.

The final insanity for Hawai'i is that no ethanol is currently produced here. The requirement, beginning in less than four months, will be for about 45 million gallons of ethanol per year. This will be imported to Hawai'i from somewhere by the oil companies, displacing about 45 million gallons of gasoline now being produced by the two refineries out at Campbell.

Since the refiners only have a limited ability to reduce that production (a barrel of oil being what it is), it is virtually certain this will result in low-value exports.

We will be exporting low-octane gasoline and importing expensive ethanol to clean up the air (not a problem in Hawai'i) and to provide a new product possibility for agriculture. But currently there are no ethanol plants being built here, so we will be importing ethanol and exporting gasoline for a very long time. The small ones being considered are on Maui and Kaua'i, not O'ahu.

Even if all of Hawai'i's remaining sugar plantations built ethanol plants and maximized sugar to feed them, they would never make 45 million gallons a year of ethanol. Any ethanol made here is going to have a cost structure very different from gasoline, and therefore could be sold at a loss if gasoline prices reach lower levels — a risk agriculture is unlikely to take lightly.

These are some of the reasons the majority of the country and the majority of the world is not putting ethanol in gasoline. You can feel good about gasohol if you want, but that feeling comes at a significant cost, thanks to government meddling once again.