Pacific Business News ran an edited version of Gov. Lingle's remarks at the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce meeting on Sept. 4th which basically stated that she was disappointed that people are not as transparent in voicing their opinions or stating their positions in government affairs. The first example was the failure of the Super Ferry. She felt that not enough proponents convinced the population that this is what "we need[ed]." She stated she was against the gas cap; is a proponent of energy independence and other energy alternative issues (wind, solar, wave, ocean thermal energy conversion, geothermal, hydropower). She stated, "I take the position that none of these are as bad as burning fossil fuel, sending pollution into the environment, sending our money outside of the state, creating no jobs for the people of Hawaii." While I haven't been following all the issues she's addressed, the idea of transparency should be something she herself should practice. While I felt the Super Ferry was a bad idea for Maui, I recently learned in HWST that the bigger picture involved federal contracts for the Super Ferry company,that the vessels were merely protoypes in order to win future federal support. I don't recall any of this as public information. While I agree that all of us need to take a position on issues we believe in, I believe government officials have a bigger responsibility to provide all necessary information for us to make educated decisions and not feed what "they" think is beneficial for us. In addition, because we are an island community with limited resources, issues about environment, culture and finance will always create heated debates. But, at least this is creating dialogue among our community. Dialogue creates clarity which in turn, makes us an educated community and puts the brakes on projects that have no balance or benefit for us now and in the future.
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