To all the cane-burning adversaries and complainers, how are you going to shut off the Kilauea volcano and the vog that comes along with it?
The current air quality due to the vog is far, far worse than the air quality during cane burning. At least the cane fire smoke blows away in a short time. Vog does not.
Hawaii Commercial & Sugar Co. warns everyone about impending cane burning events. Kilauea volcano does not.
Please understand, cane fire is a way of life that has helped to sustain our community and culture on Maui for 140 years. If you have issues with cane fire, perhaps you should relocate to somewhere else where it will not affect your health.
HC&S is surviving in a tough economy, and to change the means of harvesting cane would take great investments which, in turn, may lead to the shutdown of the company.
Take a drive to West Maui and look at the landscape. That's what Central Maui will look like without the beautiful green fields of sugar cane. Shutting down the sugar plantation would, in turn, effect tourism as Maui's landscape would turn into brown dust bowls. Imagine the air quality then, when the dirt flying around without any agriculture to hold it down.
Be careful what you wish for. Your wish might come true and we will lose our beloved green cane fields, which are so much a part of our lives.
Sharyl Seino
Wailuku
