Editorials
Sunday, May 20, 2001
Bush’s energy When President Bush unveiled his energy plan this week, he had already put himself at a disadvantage, not because of the report's clear tilt toward the oil industry, but because he formulated the proposal in an atmosphere of conflict rather than consensus.
plan will be a tough
sell to divided
audience
The issue: The president's energy plan
requires support from divided lawmakers,
the public and a variety of special interests.By the time the report was issued, opponents were lined up against proponents, with many Americans dismissing Bush's plan as so much political payoff to the oil industry whose money helped to elect him.
The president's problems began with his early-term attacks on environmental concerns -- vowing to drill a pristine Alaska wildlife refuge for questionable oil supplies and placing a stay on protection of forest land and national monuments. Then with an insensitivity that belies what his supporters describe as his great "people skills," Bush pushed harder, dismissing controls on global warming and rolling back standards for arsenic in drinking water.
Capping this display of carelessness was the utterance from Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush's energy point man, that conservation is merely "a sign of personal virtue," not a sufficient basis for energy policy. The remark touched a nerve because it belittled an element that should be a key part of sound energy policy: Waste not, want not.
Against this backdrop, the president compiled his plan in private sessions with, among others, members of the American Petroleum Institute and utility executives at the Edison Electric Institute. Many of his closest advisers come from the energy and oil industry. He and Cheney are both sons of the oil fields, having made their money in the business.
He involved few other interested groups. Environmental organizations, who obviously are stake-holders and who represent the thinking of many Americans, were rebuffed. Alternate energy representatives were similarly sent packing. Their knee-jerk reaction in opposing the president's plan arose from their exclusion.
So if the report is viewed as an unbalanced piece of work whose goal is to satisfy his industry friends, the president has no one to blame but himself.
Now, Bush is on the stump, making carefully orchestrated efforts to sell his policy. This is something he does well as was evident throughout his campaign for the White House. But perhaps this is also his problem.
In his days as president, Bush has campaigned more than led. If he wants to be a leader, he should look at problems from all angles and open the discussion for solutions to all comers. He should not limit his vision to the latest technology in oil drilling, but should look at the latest technology in all types of energy production, including renewable sources. He should engage many voices in dialogue, not only like thinkers. He should find resolution, not fuel conflict.
Being a good candidate means manipulating an image. Being a good leader means building consensus.
THE state agreed in a federal court settlement a decade ago to improve conditions for the institutionalized mentally ill, but the Hawaii State Hospital's operation remains far inferior to national standards. That continued failure could result in a federal judge's decision to take the operation of the hospital out of the state's hands. The judge's threat should press the state Department of Health at long last to comply with terms of its settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Judge’s threat should
spur improvements at
ailing state hospitalThe issue: A federal judge has threatened
to have a court take over the state's
psychiatric hospital unless
improvements are made.The main problem at the hospital seems to be overcrowding. Hawaii would have to maintain 264 mental hospital beds to meet the national average of 22 beds per 100,000 people. Instead, the State Hospital has 152 patients in units designed for 108; some classrooms have been converted to bedrooms. Hawaii's capacity for providing treatment to the mentally ill is among the worst in the country.
At the same time, the hospital seems unable to keep those patients confined to the Kaneohe hospital's grounds. The latest runaway, an accused car thief who was sent to the hospital for psychological evaluation, was captured after being on the lam for a month. Most of the hospital's patients are ordered there by the courts, although an unusually large percentage of individuals who remain in prison -- about one in nine -- suffer from acute mental illness, according to a national study.
In addition, understaffing at the hospital is made worse by staff members taking full advantage of generous vacation and sick-leave policies. The union filed a grievance last month about conditions at the hospital, but union members abuse of their contract seems to be part of the problem.
Likening the hospital to a Third World country, federal Judge David Ezra says he is "one half-step away" from placing it under the direct control of Kevin Chang, a federal magistrate whom he assigned to oversee the case. "This is make or break it for the state in terms of where we are," Ezra said.
This year's Legislature gave the Health Department an additional $8 million in the upcoming fiscal year and $14 million in the following year to improve its mental-health programs and facilities. The money should be used to expand and improve the facilities to bring them into compliance with terms of the court settlement and in step with mental health-care programs in other states.
Ezra says the appropriation gives him "some hope that we can move forward positively and bring this matter to conclusion." State Health Director Bruce Anderson expressed encouragement that Ezra "recognized there has been progress," but his department has much work to do in order for the issue to be resolved.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, President
John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.com The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
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