CLEAN ENERGY WILL CREATE MANY JOBS

Investing in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency will get the U.S. economy moving forward again and repower America.

A clean-energy economy will create millions of jobs, jobs that use the skills of today's workers and can't be outsourced.

A clean-energy economy will create jobs for some of our most struggling industries: manufacturing jobs for those who build wind turbines and solar panels; construction and retrofitting jobs for those who will make our homes and buildings more energy efficient; and auto industry jobs for making plug-in hybrid and electric cars.

Enough said.

BRIAN BELL | Honolulu

ELECTIONS

MAIL-IN BALLOTS EASIER, MORE COST-EFFECTIVE

Your July 23 editorial, "Even with cuts, don't shortchange elections," does not fully stress the importance of voting by mail. By doing away with elections at all precincts, the state would save money on voting machines, pay for precinct workers, rental of election sites and having to deal with long lines and polls that close late.

Why are the legislators reluctant to change to all-mail voting, as has been the case in Oregon since 1988? Washington state is following Oregon's lead. Voting by mail for the special election to fill the Windward council seat in April was a success. It increased participation.

Could it be that the incumbents fear that higher turnout means they will not be re-elected?

LYNNE MATUSOW | Honolulu

RAIL TRANSIT

PEOPLE VOTED, AND FOES' ARGUMENTS TIRED

Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This applies to rail foes like Gerry Nagamine (Letters, July 23). The anti-rail squad made its case against rail very loudly in 2008. We all heard its arguments about cost and traffic and how badly it wanted a vote on rail. In the end, we voted on rail. And guess what? We voted for rail, effectively rejecting those arguments.

But the anti-rail troops keep repeating the same things over and over about cost and traffic, as if we haven't heard all of that before. When will they learn to either say something new or keep quiet?

JOHN NAKAGAWA | Kailua

HEALTH CARE

WEALTHY BEING TARGETED AGAIN

Demonization of the wealthy has begun, as Lyn Pyle, RN, stated: "rich people should be asked to contribute" (Letters, July 24).

Gov. Lingle stopped the Keiki Care program because 85 percent of participants, after only seven months, were not uninsured children but children of parents who had health care and dropped it so taxpayers like you and me could "contribute." Face it, Robin Hood was a thief.

KATHY NOVAK | Honolulu

MERIT PAY

IT MAY BE WISE TO LISTEN TO THE TEACHERS

In her July 19 commentary, Kerry Toloczko asks whether merit pay for teachers who produce higher test scores gives us brighter children. "And the answer is, 'What a silly question. Of course it does!'"

This simple response suggests that this senior vice president of a privately funded conservative think tank may be too far away from the realities of a classroom. Also, bonus pay is a questionable philosophy, especially in light of Wall Street and the economic collapse.

Both President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have expressed an interest in merit pay. In his counter commentary, Paul Houston suggests this out-of-the-box idea may be wrong and he advises differentiated staffing with master teachers.

Some years ago I did a sabbatical research paper in the Department of Education for the Central District. This included responses from 19 elementary schools and more than 500 teachers and staff. When people in the field were asked how to improve their classroom, the top responses included smaller class size, more parent involvement, staffing support including watching effective teachers, and disciplinary support. Merit pay was not mentioned.

Since school improvement is such an important issue, it may be prudent to listen to the classroom teachers.

JIM WOLFE | Nu'uanu

MILITARY TRAINING

MAKUA PRESENTS OUR BEST TRAINING OPTION

I applaud the Army's decision to resume training at Makua Military Reservation.

As a former commander of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, 29th Brigade and the current head of the Hawai'i National Guard, I wished our troops could have had access to Makua before their recent deployments. Our soldiers were mobilized for active duty in 2004-2006, and again in 2008-2009, for combat in Iraq and Kuwait. Because Makua was not available to train small units, our local soldiers were sent to Texas, adding to family separation.

At Makua, we will be able to conduct combined arms live-fire exercises here rather than thousands of miles away. You simply cannot conduct realistic training and develop young leaders for combat without live fire training.

Makua saves the taxpayer money. For units on O'ahu, training at Makua means we can save the transportation cost and the time it takes to move soldiers to Pohakuloa on the Big Island. You can save even more if training on the Mainland can be conducted in Hawai'i, especially Makua.

The use of Makua does not fill all of our training needs, but it takes a considerable burden off our soldiers and their families. Let us train! The lives of our soldiers depend on this training. We will take good care of Makua when we train there.

MAJ. GEN. ROBERT G. F. LEE | Adjutant general, Hawai'i National Guard