Mayor leads by example with hybrids

Thank you to Star-Bulletin reporter B.J. Reyes for including the fact that Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is leading by example with his choice of a hybrid as his city vehicle (Star-Bulletin, June 20).

Early on Hannemann realized the environmental benefits of hybrid, and the need for the city to be at the forefront of environmental sustainability. Getting greater gas mileage (his Toyota Highlander Hybrid gets 28 mpg) lessens dependence on fossil fuel. Hybrids also produce fewer emissions, leading to cleaner air, a smaller carbon footprint and reduced health risks for island residents.

The bottom line is that the mayor is doing his part to set the proper tone for the people of Honolulu.

By the way, the car he and his wife, Gail, use as their personal vehicle is also a hybrid.

Rail opponents’ ideas better than mayor’s

Our mayor has been on the mainland too long. He brought home paranoid ideas about the anti-rail folks.

He is not giving enough credit to Dennis Callan and Michael Uechi. Yes, Mr. Mayor, these two concerned individuals have headed the Stop Rail Now movement from the beginning. Their support has come from the dozens of concerned individuals who have been giving testimony for the last two years at the City Council trying to get traffic relief to be the focus of the High-Capacity Corridor Transit Project.

Stop Rail Now favors mass transit that reduces travel time for both mass transit and car commuters. The mayor's rail project will not reduce travel time for transit or car commuters.

The mayor's consulting engineers have told us H-1 is full during rush hour. The same engineers have told us that 79 percent of commuters in 2030 will use their cars. Traffic relief must come first.

Stop Rail Now's list of traffic improvements is better for city first responder vehicles, civil defense vehicles and business people who need their cars for work.

What is the purpose of the ZipperLane?

Some years back the idea of the ZipperLane was dreamed up and put into effect. I thought I understood that it was to add another lane so as to relieve some traffic congestion. Our Fearless Leaders turned it around and made the use of it available to only those who carpool with at least three occupants.

Not getting the volume of traffic on it that our Fearless Leaders had hoped for (surprise), they reduced the required occupancy to two. Usage jumped.

Now our Fearless Leaders want to increase the minimum occupancy to three again. Are they actually expecting the traffic on the ZipperLane to increase? Is the ZipperLane there to relieve traffic congestion, or is it there as a reward for those who carpool?

We should get rid of our foreign embassies

Let's see here, $4 billion spent already, and another $8 billion required to make our foreign embassies "safe" ("U.S. fails to protect embassies," June 23). With all of today's communication technology, isn't it possible and more economical to conduct foreign embassy business from a building inside of the United States? Is it really necessary to put more Americans in danger by having them work in the middle of these war zones and in reach of any terrorist suicide bomber?

I say let's maximize our options here by eliminating wasteful spending by our Congress (again) and keeping our embassy employees safe in our own back yard. Move them back home.

Headline didn’t reflect letter writers’ views

The headline assigned by the Star-Bulletin to our June 21 letter is a good illustration of the incorrect mental shorthand people slip into when someone raises questions about the military. Nowhere do we mention the Iraq conflict or use the word "anti." We merely stress balanced information for our island youth about military careers.

Currently, as the story we commented on illustrated, the only information youth get are from recruiters who clearly have a conflict of interest. We stress that not all children have the benefit of an adult who can help them navigate the promises and romantic allure presented to them by recruiters. Titling our letter with an "anti-war" heading leaves it vulnerable to inflammatory and inaccurate interpretations.