HECO 2

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Comment by Kaohi Mendiola-Kaniaupio on February 1, 2012 at 11:35am

Why This Is Important

Destroying one-quarter of Lana'i and 11,000 acres of Moloka'i for an incredibly expensive, tax and rate payer funded industrial wind power plant (over 200 wind turbines, each over 40 stories tall) that would supply less than 10% of O'ahu's electrical demands is the wrong solution to Hawaii's energy challenges.  Support decentralized renewable energy!

Why People Are Signing

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  Martha Evans

  about 1 month ago

  5 people like this reason

  "He ali`i ka `aina. He kauwa ke kanaka." When will man understand this `olelo no`eau? The land is chief. We are its servants. There is wisdom in the words of our kupuna. Stop the destruction. The windmills will make those who are wealthy even wealthier while those who depend on the land for sustenance will lose yet another resource. Enough hewa -- wake up, respect our `aina, conserve, and be thankful for what we have. Aloha `aina.

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  Tim DeLuca

  about 1 month ago

  3 people like this reason

  I have seen this beautiful island and the wind generator site. The construction alone would destroy the eco system. The winds up on the ridge would eventually tear the generators to pieces, leaving behind massive skeletons for decades to come. If wind generators are so great, why is Europe pulling the plug on theirs?

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  Len Jury

  about 1 month ago

  2 people like this reason

  I am one of the few 50% Hawaiians left, and I believe "Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ‘Āina i ka Pono" . Lana'i is a small island with finite resources, the Aina is her greatest resource, not to be desecrated by cold stone pillars with 470" turbines. We Hawaiians have been charged by our kapuna to protect and preserve our lands. We as the protectors of the aina cannot permit

Comment by Kaohi Mendiola-Kaniaupio on February 1, 2012 at 11:34am

SAMHSA News Release

Date: 12/15/2011 9:00 AM 
Media Contact: SAMHSA Press Office
Telephone: 240-276-2130

Illicit drug related emergency department visits vary by metropolitan area

Major metropolitan areas show significant variation in the rates of emergency department (ED) visits involving illicit drugs. In terms of overall illicit drug-related emergency room visits, Boston has the highest rate (571 per 100,000 population), followed by New York City (555 per 100,000 population), Chicago (507 per 100,000 population), and Detroit (462 per 100,000 population). By comparison the national average was 317 per 100,000 population. This new report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) was drawn from the agency’s Drug Abuse Warning Network – (DAWN), a public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related emergency department visits throughout the nation. This information was collected from eleven metropolitan areas including Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Miami (Dade County and Fort Lauderdale Division), Minneapolis, New York (Five Boroughs Division), Phoenix, San Francisco, and Seattle.  “When friends, family members and health professionals miss the signs and symptoms of substance abuse the results can be devastating,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde.   “One consequence is the costly and inefficient use of emergency rooms as a first step to treatment.   Substance abuse prevention and early intervention can keep people off drugs in the first place and clear the path to healthier lifestyles.” The emergency department findings were similar to the overall trend regarding visits related specifically to heroin use. Again Boston had the highest rate (251 per 100,000 population, followed by Chicago (216 per 100,000 population), New York City (153 per 100,000 population), Detroit (150 per 100,000 population) and Seattle (118 per 100,000 population).   The national average was 69 per 100,000. The same differences were also evidenced between these major metropolitan areas and the national average when it came to rates of emergency department visits involving illicit drugs in combination with alcohol. New York City had the highest rate (223 per 100,000 population), followed by Boston (153 per 100,000 population), San Francisco (150 per 100,000 population), Chicago (120 per 100,000 population) and Detroit (112 per 100,000 population). The national average was 60 per 100,000 population. This survey was developed by SAMHSA as part of its strategic initiative on data, outcomes, and quality – an effort to create integrated data systems that help inform policy makers and providers on behavioral health issues. This survey is available on the web athttp://www.samhsa.gov/data/2k11/WEB_DAWN_023/DAWN_023_IllicitDrugEDVisits_plain.pdf . For related publications and information, visit http://www.samhsa.gov/ . SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. Its mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities.

Comment by Kaohi Mendiola-Kaniaupio on February 1, 2012 at 7:57am

Opposing the wind energy inequities to the native people of Hawaii is the thrust--At least no one got told to leave, but then who is actually representing native Hawaiian communinties.  If anyone here have visited San Jucinto one would be surprise to see the fields of Windmills, names on the each windmill belong to the rich.  The native Americans live in the desert near by in unbelievable poverty conditions.  Native American lands are where the gambling casinos exist.  I listened to Native Americans tell me about the killing crimes that goes on on their reservations because of the bus loads of rich coming to their res to gamble in their casinos on res land.

I have been to San Jacinto, Palm Springs, and the Native American reservation as well as their gambling gaming casinos too.  No kidding this Kanaka did drive to these places and talked to the people and saw the fields of corporate windmills that is huge in the desert.  And yes, I did take pictures of these fields!!! It was so devastating to my eyes!  Especially, when you sit and talk to Native Americans that lives in extreme poverty!  

I also represented Lani on the first religious access in 1978, I took Sol Kahoohalahala place.  My purpose was to walk across the Kahoolawe from Kealaikahiki to Honokanai'a over to Puu Maiwi to Hakioawa and return back to Honokani'a within the same day.  I did this walk with four other Kane's.

It's important to understand the many winds that we and our Native ancestors had understood for thousands of years.  

Radio: "You are listening to NOAA Weather Radio broadcasting from the National Weather Service Forecast office, Honolulu, Hawaii. Gentle to fresh trades with dry, subtle weather through the beginning of the new work week. In summary, normal weather with sunny afternoons, mild nights, a few trade showers and trade winds keeping things comfortable."

When I first visited Hawaii, I stayed at a hotel with an elevator that opened into the out of doors, right into the burly arms of some pretty vigorous trade winds. Management had posted a placard-sized notice nearby for all guests and residents. It said, "High winds warning. Once again it is that time of year for the high winds. You may experience some difficulty with the elevator doors closing all the way. In the event that this should happen, do not panic."

In Hawaii, the wind has 200 different names. Meet a man who knows just about all of them.

Lake: "My name is John...Lake."

When John Lake was a child on the island of Maui, a hurricane force wind rolled down a mountain towards his home.

Lake: "And as it approached up in the distance from the mountain heights all of a sudden you saw these poles flying in the air and structures flying in the air...and as the winds came towards the house we knew, oh, we crumped under the bed for one thing, because we had seen our neighbor's garage lift up in the air, and when the winds came it didn't do anything to the house. Just rattled the windows."

John Lake says the hurricane winds miraculously parted, like the Red Sea, and gently tip-toed around his house, leaving his home and family safe and sound... but not untouched...for the incident gave John Lake an appreciation for the power and mystery of the winds, and the place they occupy in native Hawaiian philosophy and song:

Lake: "With the winds, as like the forests and the skies and the ocean, each of them become the composite of Hawaiian beliefs that there exists a spiritual force. For all the things that we see around us, such...wind...in our beliefs you personify them, and we give them names.