Bottle bill is public's chance to cut litter

I am happy to see that the Star-Bulletin is giving the bottle bill the attention it deserves. As a citizen of Hawaii and a consumer, I strongly support the bill.

It will be extremely beneficial for the future of Hawaii. As Jeff Mikulina, director of the Hawaii chapter of the Sierra Club, has testified before the state Legislature, 75,000 bottles and cans are thrown away every hour in the state. I wonder how many never make it to the trash can?

The Pacific Action Alliance, of which I am a member, recently cleaned up Sandy Beach. In two hours, we picked up nearly 40 bags of trash, most of which consisted of glass bottles.

Our ecosystems are suffering greatly from the trash we leave. The bottle bill finally gives us a chance to do something about it. Residents and visitors alike would be relieved to watch litter disappear from beaches and roads. The bill also will encourage more people to pick up trash and will increase recycling.

Beach clean-ups and adopt-a-highway litter programs aren't enough. Let's keep Hawaii a paradise and reduce litter and landfills. Let's pass the bottle bill.

Crystal Stafford
Executive director
Pacific Action Alliance

Trash ruins beauty of Lili'uokalani Gardens

I recently visited the Lili'uokalani Gardens off Kuakini Street and was appalled at what I saw.

Nuuanu Stream was littered with garbage. I am not talking just about cans, bottles and paper trash. The stream held car tires, garden hoses, stove tops, bottles, cans, jars, plastic bags and other trash.

This was the first time I had visited the little park and I was so taken by the quiet beauty in the middle of the city. As I walked by the stream full of garbage I could not help but think of Israel Kamakawiwoole's song "Hawaii 78," where he sings about what the king and queen would think of the Islands today. I am positive that Queen Lili'uokalani would cry to see such a beautiful place named in her honor full of garbage.

Does the city not have a responsibility to maintain this beautiful little stream? The lawn and picnic area are well maintained. Residents have a responsibility to cry out when we see such destruction, first at the people who litter our land and second at our city maintenance department for not keeping the park clean.

Connie Owens

Church-state rule suppresses religion

The photo of a man in religious garb at a place of business shaking hands with another man caught my eye ("Not Good Friday for everyone," Star-Bulletin, March 29). The caption said that he was protesting Good Friday as a state holiday because of the separation of church and state.

Rather than continually crush religious freedom and expression, we should learn to embrace and appreciate spiritual values. Much of what this country was built on were these values, as you see on the money we spend with the inscription "In God We Trust." Would all those sharing this view be willing to part with this money in protest?

I would much rather see our country embrace religious freedom. All religions have special days on their calendars. Why not pick a holiday from each religion and make the day significant whether we are working or not? We would learn about our differences as well as our similarities and all religions could be expressed freely.

For those who are atheists, there are plenty of other nonreligious holidays that are state and/or federal holidays, and some people even get the day off with full pay. Why should America be the country that suppresses religious expression? Let's not take freedom of religion out of American values.

Catherine Jordan

'Paper Tale' told true story of gas prices

Just when my faith in the mainstream media reached a low ebb, I read Tim Ruel's hard-hitting article "The Paper Tale" (Star-Bulletin, March 31).

Rather than publish self-serving oil industry press releases, the Star-Bulletin chose to fulfill the highest and best ambitions of a free press. Bravo.

With regard to Chevron's view on competitive pricing, I fear your work is cut out for you in an era of "market consolidation" by increasingly fewer multinational corporate giants.

Dave Sams

Gay father not allowed to help with Scouts

Recently I had a chance to meet and speak with a gay parent of a 7-year-old boy. He told me how disappointed he was that an organization he belonged to as child would not let him be involved now because he is openly gay. That just doesn't strike me as fair or just. If the Boy Scouts insist on running their organization like a private "old boys' club," then let the chips fall.

Steve Evans

Consumers should fight oil companies

The Star-Bulletin's exposé on Chevron's practice of gouging about 20 percent of its annual national profits from the islands is national news and should be prize-winning journalism. Hawaii, with one-half of 1 percent of the nation's population, is providing Chevron with 40 times more than our proportionate share of its profits? Preposterous.

Time and again, oil companies claimed not to have isle profit information, only for it to come out later showing net income higher than in other markets around the country. They said, "lack of competitive market forces, not collusion" resulted in high gas prices in Hawaii. Statistics don't lie, but people do.

Enough of this. Let the consumers stimulate "competitive market forces."

Nobody buys gas at Chevron-supplied stations until the prices drop 5 cents per gallon lower than their competitors. Once that happens, nobody buys from Chevron's competitors until their prices drop 5 cents below Chevron, and so on.

This could continue until Hawaii's gas prices are on a par with West Coast prices.

Frederick A. Holck
Kailua

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