Vouchers for Farmers Market Spending Improves Nutrition Among Poor

The New York Times' "Well" Blog covers some recent UCLA research that found if poor families are issued vouchers redeemable at local farmers markets their consumption of fresh fruits and veggies goes up. No duh! But still, maybe a worthy idea for Hawaii where we really need to support local farming and have severe nutritional problems with some of the poorest residents.

No-Dam Hydro Possibilities: Hot Dam, Hawaii!

Hawaii has a fairly minimal amount of hydroelectric power. And we don't really want to build dams in fragile ecosystems. However, a new system from Hydro Green Energy can be slung beneath a barge and used to generate electricity by capturing energy from rivers without building up a superstructure from the waterways' bottom. Test projects are currently running in five states. Hawaii should be the sixth.

Reverse the State Ethanol Mandate: It's Not Smart Policy

So you may have read by now about the recent study reported here that found production of biofuels in their current forms actually promotes global warming more than it reduces it. This isn't entirely a surprise. Hawaii, like most of the nation, rushed to put in an ethanol mandate and so the Aloha State is actually doing more harm than good. In fact, even worse. Few motorists know that ethanol reduces gas mileage considerably (by roughly 10-20% per gallon) so, in effect, the ethanol mandate in Hawaii is not only environmentally unsound but also an enormous tax on the already taxed Hawaii populace. Wait, it gets worse. There is an additional bill that will come due from the ethanol. This substance is incredibly corrosive, much more so than regular gasoline. It chews through storage tanks and many experts believe it will decrease the life of car engines and other parts within cars (in fact, there was a boom in sales of a material called molybdenum that can be used to make steel tougher and more resistant to ethanol corrosion). In Hawaii, the ultimate environmental cost of this ethanol madness could be horrific -- every underground fuel tank that gets compromised by ethanol turns into a brownfield project and an environmental disaster, something that we can ill afford due to the existing difficulties of remediating brownfield sites in Hawaii. At any rate, tell the Leg to revoke the ethanol mandate. It's not eco-friendly. It's costly. It hurts taxpayers. And it hurts the environment Nuff said.

WSJ: Nine Cities, Nine Programs to Cut Energy

The Wall Street Journal is running a series of articles on how nine cities are cutting energy usage with novel programs. It's going to be an interesting read. Come to think of it, is Honolulu thinking of buying LED's to replace standard lights in streetlights? Should this be on their agenda? Here's the intro.

Ann Arbor, Mich., and Beijing, China, have precious little in common. But the modest college town and sprawling national capital do share one trait: They're part of a world-wide movement by cities to rein in their runaway energy use. Ann Arbor is replacing the bulbs in its street lamps with light-emitting diodes that use much less power. Beijing is closing or relocating cement kilns, coal mines and chemical plants dating back to the era of Chairman Mao.

Should Hawaii Subsidize Solar?

According to this New York Times article on the rise of the solar power industry in California, the City of Berkeley will pay for the upfront installation costs for residential solar power panel installs and recoup the costs over 20 years with higher prop taxes. Count me in! Except we don't have a plan like that here in Hawaii? Should we? Makes a lot of sense. Here's how it would work. The state takes out a bond issue to cover the cost of solar installs. It contracts with Sun Edison to do residential installs and uses the bond proceeds (interests are actually quite low now, folks) to put panels on thousands of Hawaii rooftops. In the end, consumers benefit because they are able to reduce power bills using clean technology and not have to take a massive upfront hit. The state benefits by gaining energy independence, alleviating pressure on the power grid, and -- equally important -- building a critical mass of solar power companies that would make the industry more sustainable and scalable here. Such a plan would essentially mirror ways that large retailers and building owners are financing solar panel installs. How about it?

Medical Checklists in Hawaii?

The brilliant writer (and surgeon) Atul Gawande has a killer op-ed in the NYT on medical checklists as they are used in ICUs. Simple checklists that force doctors and nurses to go make sure they follow a list of best practices while performing key ICU procedures dramatically reduced the rate of infections and fatalities. These programs cost almost nothing -- basically the paper they are printed on. Gawande stimates the total cost of a nationwide rollout would be less than $10 million. To my knowledge, no hospital in Hawaii has adopted these checklists. What's more, the federal government is shutting them down. The checklists, if properly implimented, could save Hawaii tens of millions of dollars per year in medical costs and also probably save dozens of lives. It's gotta happen, folks.

Tide Power on Maui -- Finally

According to this article, an Aussie outfit is looking to finally bring a commerical tidal power installation to the islands, on Maui. This is a huge energy resource that Hawaii really needs to tap.