A carbon neutral big island?

[MarkP]

I made what I consider to be a statement of fact; that a giant powerplant conforming to a DOH permit would convert carbon based fuel to usefull energy more efficiently than the average vehicle I see driving on Hawaii's roads. I may have missed the point, which appears to be that HELCO is evil and anything said about them must show them in a bad light.

It is best to know your enemy. One of my gripes about calling electric cars as "zero emission" vehicles is that they are not. The powerplant emits carbon and other pollutants as it charges them. Also, if every car were switched to electric, there is no way that the current distribution system could handle the load. There are many reasons why the image of HELCO as our savior charging all our electric cars is grossly twisted. If it is possible to say this without enraging you further I just wanted to say that being less efficient is not one of them. I will admit that seeming to defend HELCO in this thread amounts to fight'n words but it is good practice in separating the chafe from the grain. There are plenty of other things to condemn them for.

One can argue that freedom from a monopoly is worth a limited amount of pollution. Is that what you meant with your comments about smoke and vog?