Your Views for December 9

To believe

Human life is but a world of fantasy, so for those who believe in it (fantasy), more power to them.

Conversely, then, for the nonbelievers, does it mean less power to them?

At any rate, whether one is a believer or not, it’s quite possible that one might still enjoy the spirit of Christmas!

T. Ono

Hilo

Albizia threat

I recently read in a landscape magazine about a variety of benefits of the albizia tree, including its usefulness as a building timber equal to Douglas fir, and for use as an efficient biomass conversion to energy, with resultant ash that is useful for fertilizer.

Who among Hawaii’s leaders and innovators is allowing corporatism to keep the status quo for imports of lumber and energy prices high while albizias simultaneously decay and grow to cause hazards and threaten property?

What was the cost of the destruction by albizias to the electrical grid infrastructure and private property during the past hurricane?

John Begg

Pahoa

Coqui follies

Syd Singer’s recent letter says people who live with coquis start to enjoy them. But the study he cited didn’t say “enjoy” — it just said people “tended to have less negative attitudes toward the coqui.” And the study didn’t explore whether tourists, abruptly subjected to deafening chirping, enjoy coquis.

Syd concludes that coqui chirping becomes a “welcome part of life.” Well, no, not for people who know about coquis’ effects on Hawaii’s ecosystem. Coquis compete for food with native birds, and coquis in turn are food for animals that prey on those native birds. And coquis might cause changes in soils that favor invasive plants.

Coquis also are a drag on our economy, since plant growers must invest time, energy and money to ensure the plants they sell don’t spread coquis. And there is concern coqui chirping is loud enough to give people hearing loss.

I wish Syd would redirect his energy into worthwhile efforts, such as his “Good Shepherd” initiative to relocate animals threatened by lava.

Cory Harden

Hilo