OPEN LETTER: Tulsi Gabbard's GMO labeling push is an embarrassment to pro-science progressives
VIDEO: Panos on Mauna Kea Telescope
Survey: 70 Percent of Union Members Want Re-certification Vote
Carvalho for Governor? Ige to Remind Votes that…uh…uhh….
SA: Gov. David Ige plans to ramp up his political fundraising efforts to raise $1 million before the end of the year to prepare for what could be a bruising Democratic primary next year.
In a wide-ranging interview last week, Ige said his critical task in the year leading up to the Aug. 11 primary election will be to remind voters of what he has accomplished, including his efforts to cope with homelessness, promote renewable energy, grow the tourism industry and expand the information economy in Hawaii.
With seasoned Democrats such as U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho considering running for governor, Ige said he plans to raise $2.5 million to $3 million to secure another four-year term. State Rep. Bob McDermott is also running for governor, as a Republican…..
read … Ige plans to fill war chest, ‘tell our story’ for re-election
LOL! “Rising seas will devour Waikiki, wash away billions from Hawaii's economy”
HNN: Imagine Waikiki without its world-renowned beach.
That’s a future that’s possible this century, scientists say. And it’s among a host of threats climate change poses to Hawaii and to its no. 1 economic engine — tourism.
After all, rising sea levels won’t just devour Waikiki.
In coastal communities statewide, they’ll trigger tough decisions — about whether to beat a strategic retreat, to move property and infrastructure away from the encroaching seas, or to use limited resources to hold back the waves.
(Are you laughing?)
Reality: Sea Level Rise? Nonsense, Oahu is Rising From the Sea for Next 1.5M Years
read … Billions!
Batteries: How Much Can Elon Musk Raise Hawaii Electric Bills?
IM: …Tucson Electric Power and NextEra Energy agreed to a 20-year contract to supply solar + storage based electricity. The “all-in cost” is less than 4.5 cents/kWh.
Tucson Electric Power asserted that the cost of the solar is under 3 cents/kWh, while the cost of storage is 1.5 cents/kWh.
James Lazar questioned the numbers. Lazar is the senior advisor at the Regulatory Assistance Project. He is also no stranger to Hawai`i utility proceedings.
(Translation: Hawaii will give much,much, more to Elon Musk….)
Lazar asserted that only some of the energy is stored, storage only occurs 12 percent of the time, and there is some energy lost due to the efficiency of the storage system. Thus the actual cost of storage is 8.9 cents/kWh. But the cost is added to every unit of electricity sold to the utility, and thus appears to be 1.5 cents/kWh.
Lazar asserted that although the price of storage is still high, the overall project “is still a good deal.” ….
IQ Test: Do you believe him?
read … Jim Lazar Questions the Actual Price of Energy Storage
Competition could spark a price war
CB: …analysts were skeptical about the venture.
Hansen said Tote will have to invest at least $1 billion for ships, containers and other equipment for the service, which would come online starting around 2020.
“On the surface, this makes no sense to us as the Hawaii trade lane cannot support a third competitor,” Seaport Global reported.
So is Tote looking to drive out a competitor the way Go! sought to drive out Aloha?
“Possibly,” Seaport Global wrote, “but it will take time as (Matson) and Pasha will not want to easily give up ground and a price war could break out.”
The result: “It could be tough sledding in Hawaii for a few years beginning in 2020,” Seaport’s analysts wrote.
For its part, Matson doesn’t seem too worried about the competition.
Matson has been the market leader in Hawaii for 135 years and we expect to lead for many years to come,” the company said in a statement to Civil Beat. “We continue actively investing in our service, including nearly $1 billion in new ships and terminal improvements coming online over the next three years, and remain committed to our mission – to move freight better than anyone.” ….
SA: Hawaii’s new cargo fleet should be shipshape
read … Price War
Should City Dump UPW’s bulky-trash program?
SA: … So many things are wrong with the city’s bulky-item trash pickup program that it’s tempting to conclude: Just dump it.
After all, service has been plagued by inefficiency and delays, evidenced by the piles sitting on sidewalks too long after scheduled monthly pickup dates. Adding to the insult: Taxpayers are being burned by program workers’ abuse of sick leave, excessive overtime and unpaid days off….
>> Excessive sick leave and leave without pay. From July 2015 to July 2016, 102 of 122 manual-pickup workers took 17,815 hours, or 2,227 days, of sick leave. And from July 2015 to April 2017, 21 employees took over 3,900 hours of leave without pay (LWOP) after running out of paid leave; the most LWOP taken by one worker was 142 days — that’s more than one-third of a year off the job.
>> Excessive overtime pay. In the 13 months starting July 2015, 153 workers reaped $1.7 million in overtime for bulky and large-appliance pickup, an average of $11,056 per employee. The most OT paid to one worker was $75,570 — that staffer and four others at the Pearl City refuse yard comprised half of the top 10 overtime earners; also, the two employees taking the most sick leave and the most LWOP work at that yard.
Clearly, more investigation into the Pearl City operations is warranted.
>> The majority of bulky-item loads taken to collection yards were not maximized. That means more items could have, should have, been collected on daily routes, but were not; this ineffiency occurred in the majority of loads collected at six of the seven collection yards.
At the core of the inefficiencies is a memorandum of agreement with the United Public Workers union — counterproductive work rules that are so rigid they willfully create daily challenges for collection yard supervisors on staffing and scheduling of bulky item collection crews….
read … City’s bulky-trash program need serious overhaul
Race Hustlers Target McKinley Statue (again) in Desperate Bid for Attention, Money
MT: …On Sunday, Aug. 20, a group of activists marched on McKinley High School in Honolulu, calling for the removal of the statue of President William McKinley that stands there.
“He led the takeover of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Cuba,” said Khara Jabola-Carolus, co-founder of AF3IRM Hawaii, in this Aug. 20 Hawaii News Now story. “His legacy is painful for people of color in Hawaii and throughout the Pacific.”
It makes sense that AF3IRM is so prominent in this action. As their website notes, they don’t mess around.
“Hawai‘i is not the playground of the new gilded age,” states the AF3IRM Hawaii website. “We are a battleground for indigenous, immigrant, and women’s self-determination. We focus on fighting for improvements to women’s daily lives on all fronts including the legislature, the city council, the courtroom, the boardroom, and the classroom.”
read … Boardroom = Money Gimme, Gimme
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