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Who’s to blame for the Maui fires?
Could it be Hawaiian Electric, which sacrificed infrastructure maintenance for politically correct climate change projects? Or could it be Maui County, through years of dereliction of duty and neglect of fire hazards posed by tinder conditions in dry areas around Maui? What about state leaders who advocated the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative to achieve 100% clean energy by 2045 — a singular focus on energy independence by 2045? They prevailed upon HECO and the counties to embrace this initiative and succeeded.
These decisions were all made by the old guard of these institutions and implemented over a number of years. They’re gone. Yes, the current leaders inherited the responsibility, but no reasonable person would hold newly appointed leaders fully accountable for a disaster that has been in the making for years from prior misplaced priorities.
More turnover and new faces for leadership at this time is foolish, unhelpful and unwarranted.
James Marn
Punchbowl
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