Health

Optimism and Good Cheer

The first day of the year always fills one with optimism and good cheer. For farmers, the shortest day is behind us (December 21st) and although it is still winter one can start to plan now for longer warmer days.

This past year was a challenge, because of the realization that the world has fundamentally changed and business-as-usual will not do. Accepting that future energy and agricultural supply costs will inevitably rise, we feel that we are now heading in the right direction. That, and preserving the ability to make quick changes in direction, will serve us best.

We have always welcomed change and we must resist the tendency to feel that the future can be predicted based on past behavior. The most important thing we know is that if we stay relevant to our workers and to our community we will be moving in the right direction. Although the future is not clear, the fact that we are expecting an unpredictable future and have prepared ourselves to adapt is very comforting!

And that reminds me; I’ve been off my exercise program for a year now. I’ve started testing the exercise equipment and I’m looking forward to getting back on track. Nothing like being in a good frame of mind.

Aquaponics, Food Security, Hamakua Coast, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

A New Year: Looking Forward

Years ago, we decided we need to plan for the worse and hope for the best. We have always try to position ourselves for where we will need to be in five or 10 years.

In the early part of 2008, rising oil prices squeezed us and other farmers. Oil prices have dropped, but assuming they start to rise again and will probably be higher than before – where do we need to be five and 10 years from now?

When oil prices spiked earlier this year, we could feel the strain it put on our employees as they struggled to stretch their paychecks. We could not raise their pay, but we were able to supply them with food every Thursday, when we gave them bananas, tomatoes and other things we grew. Utilizing our free water resource, we now plan to also supply our workers with tilapia fish, for protein.

Because of our free fresh water, we can grow tilapia without much input other than food. Roy Tanaka tells us that tilapia are vegetarians and we may be able to feed the fish “off grade” vegetables and fruit. We are not necessarily interested in seeing how fast the fish can grow. We are more interested in using waste products to keep costs down so we can give our people food.

When oil prices rise again, we will see electricity, water and gas prices rise, too. To be prepared for rising oil prices we are installing a hydroelectric generator in the flume that runs through our property. It will generate enough electricity to supply our whole operation and still have 25 percent left over. We plan to let our workers plug in their electric hybrids at the farm as an extra benefit of working for Hamakua Springs.

Operationally, we know that rising oil prices means rising fertilizer prices. So on the portion of land we lease out, we work with area farmers in order that crop rotation and cover cropping benefits each other. Together with hydroelectricity, we will change the cost characteristics of banana, sweet potato and other crops.

I can say that crop rotating bananas and sweet potatoes has never been done before. But why not? The principles are sound.

We also have small growers working the ridgelines and small niches that fit their size. They do crops that we don’t do and so we complement each other. On our 600-acre parcel, we are working toward having many variations of food. Doing this will engage many people. When push comes to shove, it is important that many people have a vested interest in our system of agriculture.

Generating electricity from the river means that our electricity costs will be stable. In contrast, no one can guess how high oil prices will rise. I think they will go much higher than what we saw several months ago. Better safe than sorry.

Looking beyond the farm, if we have cheap electricity then we can serve as a place to consolidate and refrigerate shipments of other farmer’ products, so they can get to O‘ahu in a cost-effective manner. This is important because O‘ahu land prices are so high and the population is so densely arranged that it’s not easy to see how the people there can feed themselves. This means that outer-island farmers need to be positioned to supply food for O‘ahu in a seamless manner.

We found that three ahupua‘a run through our farm and that was very interesting to know. I feel I am in tune with how the Hawaiians would have managed these lands in the old days.  It is about observation, diligence and common sense.

Putting everything together, we have all the pieces to make a sustainable community and maybe even a whole district. It seems to me that with further collaboration, we can supply all the food for people living between Hilo and Honoka‘a, and probably even further.

It will be an interesting year. Best wishes to you and yours for a good 2009.

Peak Oil

International Energy Association: Present Usage of Oil Not Sustainable

In November, Matt Simmons spoke at the Hawaii Energy Challenge 08 held at the Fairmont Orchid.

His talk was notable because it included excerpts from the World Energy Outlook 2008, an annual report, published by the International Energy Association (IEA), that had just been released a few weeks prior.

For the first time, the IEA said that our present usage of oil is not sustainable. It said that Peak Oil will occur around 2020 if everything goes right; i.e., if countries and companies spend money now to develop more resources. The question left unanswered is: “What happens if we don’t spend the money to increase supplies?”

Luckily, in Hawai‘i we have alternatives.

From a (U.K.) Guardian article entitled When Will The Oil Run Out?

George Monbiot put the question to Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency – and was both astonished and alarmed by the answer.

In its 2007 World Energy Outlook, the IEA had predicted a rate of decline in output from the world’s existing oilfields of 3.7 percent a year. This, it said, presented a short-term challenge, with the possibility of a temporary supply crunch in 2015, but with sufficient investment any shortfall could be covered.

Its newer report though, published last month, carries a very different message: a projected rate of decline of 6.7 percent, which means a much greater gap to fill.

More importantly, in the 2008 report the IEA suggests for the first time that world petroleum supplies might hit the buffers. “Although global oil production in total is not expected to peak before 2030, production of conventional oil…is projected to level off towards the end of the projection period.”

These bland words reveal a major shift. Never before has one of the IEA’s energy outlooks forecast the peaking or plateauing of the world’s conventional oil production (which is what we mean when we talk about peak oil).

But that’s as specific as the report gets. Does it or doesn’t it mean we have time to prepare? What does “towards the end of the projection period” mean? The agency has never produced a more precise forecast – until now. For the first time, in the interview I conducted with its chief economist Fatih Birol recently, it has given us a date. And it should scare the pants off anyone who understands the implications.

And from the Peak Oil Review:

Perhaps the most interesting new car in recent weeks is the one built by BYD in China. BYD started life as an advanced battery manufacturer that moved into building cars about 5 years ago. BYD says it has developed a new, proprietary battery technology that will move a four passenger car 62 miles at highway speeds on electricity alone. Built with a range extending
gasoline engine like the one in the Chevrolet Volt, this vehicle is already on sale in China for $22,000.

If this vehicle works as advertised, it will mark a paradigm shift in the automobile industry for it is coming on the market with better performance specifications, two years earlier, and at half the rumored cost of GM’s Volt. If the US automobile industry can survive for the next two years it may find difficulty competing with just the Volt. It is worth noting that Warren Buffet has invested $230 million in the BDY electric car project in hopes of introducing them in the US by 2011.

Ammonia is probably the most critical manmade substance to the existence of human society. The expansion of the world’s population is based on fertilizer driven agriculture…and modern nitrogen fertilizer is ammonia. Global ammonia production comes about 69 percent from natural gas and 29% from coal. US domestic ammonia production was 10.7 million tons in 2007 and imported ammonia totaled 7.9 million tons. Major suppliers: Trinidad (55%), Russia (21%), and Canada (12%). (12/24, #18)

Liquid ammonia can be a transportation fuel, too.  Can it work for ag and energy?

Matt Simmons praises the IEA for doing the research that brought them to the new conclusion – that things are going to be very serious. But he says that Fatih Birol is soft-pedaling the report and trying really hard not to alarm anyone, while at the same time holding private talks with heads of states telling them that things can be very grim if we all don’t get to work addressing this serious issue.

Matt Simmons said that Hawai‘i needs to “plan for Peak Oil followed by steady declines.”

• Although the rate of future declines is debatable, declining supplies will inevitably occur

• Even “modest rates” could have awful impact

• We need a manpower/material plan to attain realistic (not collapsing) supply

• We need a Plan B for work to begin using less oil:

• End long-distance commuting
• Grow food locally
• Produce “things” locally
• Transport people and goods by water and rail

And I would like to add the following:

• Be relentless in integrating renewable energy into our electricity grid

• Integrate ag and energy planning

• Diversify food supply to where the resources are located

• Support education and especially the community colleges, where they make and fix things

• Be realistic about biodiesel; it is a longshot

• Encourage electric transportation. It is more doable

• Encourage Young Brothers to lower agriculture rates from outside islands

If we pay attention and move forward with determination, we can set an example for the rest of the nation. Not, no can. CAN!

Aquaponics

Friendly Aquaponics

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It’s Sustainable Wednesday again, so again we’re bringing you a feature about some of the interesting people and companies that were at the E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival last month.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Friendly Aquaponics, a Honoka‘a company owned by husband and wife team Susanne Friend and Tim Mann.

They were in the construction business until about a year and a half ago when they made what Susanne describes as “a real conscious change. We made the move at exactly the right time.”

“We wanted to do food; to find some way to serve people who didn’t have a lot of money,” she says. They discovered aquaponics – a food production system that combines aquaculture (raising fish in tanks) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil).

From their website:

Aquaponics is a truly sustainable food production system:

Aquaponics uses minimal water consumption: less than 1% of the water of traditional farming!
Aquaponics is low energy: uses 70% less energy than farming using in-ground methods!
Aquaponics is eight to ten times more vegetable production than farming in the dirt.
Aquaponics is fully scalable: backyard family systems to full commercial systems.
Aquaponics is pure, clean, and natural: USDA Certified Organic.
Aquaponics is easy to learn and operate: anyone can do this!

Currently they grow tilapia in tanks and 10-12 varieties of lettuce, as well as a sampling of other vegetables. Susanne says they have yet to need to actually leave their property to sell their fish, because people come to the farm and buy all they have. They have been selling their lettuce commercially, though are currently looking for a new distributor.

“We both come from the business world. Farming is new to us, and if we can do this, anyone can,” she says.

Training other people in how to do aquaponics is part of their mission. “We had our first training, a two-weekend course, in October,” she says. “We thought six or seven people would come and we got 78. Out of the 78, one left and built a small aquaponics system in the week between the course, and another 11 have built or are building systems. Our training is designed to be imminently practical.” None of the 12 who are building systems had been farmers, she says.

They are offering another, three-day training session for families in late February, and a four-day session for people who want to set up commercial systems in March. They teach all aspects of construction, day-to-day management, and for the commercial training, marketing. “Everything but the business training,” she says. “Some follow-up business training would be good.”

They also offer free, two-hour farm tours on Saturdays at 10 a.m. “In our farm tour we give as much or more practical information as our trainings,” she says. “You could come to three or four farm tours and get as much information as taking the course. We encourage that.”

Peak Oil

Korean Natural Farming

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“Korean Natural Farming” is a way of farming practiced in many countries in Asia, and it is to Western farming as acupuncture is to Western medicine. Its basic premise is that farmers can generate most, if not all, of the necessary inputs to food production onsite. It is a holistic approach to farming that is quite different from what most of us are accustomed to. If this method of farming can work here in Hawai‘i, one can see the possibility of getting off oil dependency.

There’s a tour to Korea being arranged for the spring, to see this natural farming method in action, and I’m going to go see for myself.

Western-style food production, of course, is very much dependent on oil for its inputs. Matt Simmons, an internationally renowned investment banker and Peak Oil Advocate, was keynote speaker at Energy Challenge ‘08, which was held recently in Kona. He said the world now produces 75 million barrels of oil per day, and that this will decline to 25 million barrels per day in 2030. The era of cheap oil is over.

This means that food prices will rise to unbelievable heights. I’ve said before that we need to use all the tools available to us in order to pass on a livable world to future generations. We cannot afford to give up anything that will help us survive out here in the middle of the Pacific. We need to use every tool and every opportunity available to us, and we need to pass on, to future generations, every possible advantage.

The following invitation tells more about the upcoming visit to Korea.

To: Hawaii County Administration and Leaders in Agriculture and Tourism:

We are currently progressing towards developing a “Sister City” relationship with Goseong County and Hawaii County in regards to agriculture and tourism. Goseong County is located in South Korea and has adopted a unique and specialized natural farming system. A tour is being planned for March 2009 to establish this goodwill with Goseong and we would like for you to join us. Your leadership and support is vital to help get this started which will greatly enhance the future of agricultural sustainability and tourism in Hawaii County. Background and pertinent information is provided below and we request for your reply by December 23, 2008.

Natural Farming/ Living Environmental Farming Goodwill Tour in Goseong, Korea

Cho Global Natural Farming-USA (CGNF), County of Hawaii, and the College of Tropical Agriculture (CTAHR) will be collaborating on an exploratory and goodwill tour of Goseong County in South Korea. The main mission is to initiate a “Natural Farming & Tourism Sister City” relation with Hawaii County based upon research and empirical information. Goseong has instituted a regional “Living Environmental Farming” program which promotes natural or sustainable agricultural practices. We hope to have a team of Big Island government and industry agricultural leaders to partake in this educational
assessment and establishment of goodwill with a unique County government which has been successful in instituting programs promoting sustainable agriculture and tourism for their region. CGNF envisions that Hawaii farmers will greatly benefit by learning and adopting natural farming concepts, methods, and technologies developed in Korea. The result of this goodwill relation will be a new development towards the natural farming sector in our community and thus an enhancement for both agriculture and tourism in
Hawaii.

This is being planned for this coming March 25-30, 2009. We anticipate about 15 travelers as part of this team. Each participating traveler would be responsible for their own airfare, hotel and food which is estimated to be around $2,000 (depending on oil prices).

Below are an overview of the background, current accomplishments, and purpose of this effort.

I. Background

*    The natural farming community in Hawaii envisions promoting and adopting natural farming methods which were developed in Asia (Korea, Japan, Thailand, China, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, India etc.) and proven to be a successful sustainable farming system for future generations.

*    The major impetus in Hawaii since 2005 has been through the efforts of Dr. Hoon Park, a retired MD from Hilo, who has attended several intensive Korean Natural Farming workshops and who has been instrumental in introducing to Hawaii and the USA, Cho Han Kyu, the founder of the Janong (Natural Farming) Institute in Korea and one of the world renown natural farming scholars.

II. Accomplishments in Hawaii

*    As a result of these activities in Hawaii, Cho Global Natural Farming-USA (CGNF-USA) was started and is now based in Kona. Dr. Hoon Park is the current president. Numerous composting making workshops were held in both east and west Hawaii and on Oahu.

*    An intensive Natural Farming Workshop, taught by Han Kyu Cho and daughter Ju-Young Cho was held at the University of Nations in Kona in June of 2008.

*    A natural farming curriculum for Big Island students was initiated at the Hawaii Community College by David Ikeda.

*    Several Hawaii-Korean farmers attended the one week intensive training at the Cho Global Natural Janong Institute in Korea and are beginning to employ these novel methods.

*    CTAHR Hawaii County extension agents visited several natural farming farms in Korea and experienced first hand testimony from successful growers who have been trained through the Janong Institute (CGNF) program.

*    Agriculturalists and gardeners in Hawaii are exploring this method with very successful results and local chapters are being organized.

*    A natural farming swine farm is being developed by local investors in Kurtistown utilizing the Cho Global Natural Farming technology and is soon to be operational.

*    A 2 ton capacity composting machine has been installed in Kurtistown. Permits are currently being negotiated.

III. Purpose of Travel

The objectives of this visit are:

1.    To develop a “Natural Farming Sister City” relationship between Hawaii County and Goseong County which has instituted successful agricultural and tourism programs. You may visit their city website at:
http://eng.goseong.go.kr/main/main.asp.

2.    To gain more firsthand knowledge about sustainable farming technology from South Korea which utilizes “Living Environmental Farming”, a natural or sustainable agricultural system practiced by farmers and ranchers throughout the entire Goseong County.

3.    To develop a plan to exchange information on crop and animal husbandry, composting, pathogen issues and to adopt appropriate and specialized technology with CTAHR and growers that will lead to the establishment of Hawaii County as an important tropical natural farming location.

4.    Develop a proposal to create a venue to help the local agricultural and tourist economy based upon healthy lifestyles and in an eco-friendly manner.

IV. Tentative Agenda in Goseong (Dr. H. Park to escort and assist with English translation)

1.    Visit with the Goseong mayor and government officials to discuss natural farming issues and to initiate a “Natural Farming & Tourism Sister City” relation based upon research and empirical informational exchange.

2.    Visit prominent nature farming and marketing operations in the region to get direct farmer inputs.

3.    Visit major regional expositions on tourism and natural farming as part of Goseong’s R & D program & other parts of Korea where successful natural farming has been established.

4.    Initiate a vision and outline a working program that will increase applications of natural farming projects and activities in Hawaii County.

Community, Mauna Kea

Agreeing to Disagree & Sharing a Ride

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I called Kale Gumapac, Alaka‘i of the Kanaka Council, on his cell phone the other day.

Some who don’t know the people on the Kanaka Council are afraid of them. Some think Kanaka Council members are radical and unpredictable.

I think they are uncompromising, principled people. I’m very comfortable around them.

When I called, the conversation went like this: “Eh Kale, Dawn Chang just called me to ask if you guys going make the meeting with her at the County Building in Kona?” I told him that Dawn had asked me to come to the meeting, which was about the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan draft, in order to give her moral support. But I had forgotten about the meeting.

Kale replied that he had four guys in the car and was on his way to Kona. Then he said, “I should have thought to call you so we could all ride down to Kona together.”

The previous meeting between the Kanaka Council and Dawn Chang, at the Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center, had been heated and very contentious. It was tough. Dawn told me that it was the toughest meeting she had had to date. So she was a little concerned about this one.

Later, though, she told me that this meeting with the Kanaka Council turned out to be the most constructive meeting she had ever had. She was astounded.

I wasn’t surprised.

The Kanaka Council and I have been on opposite side of issues before. I didn’t know what they were going to say to Dawn, nor did they know what I was going to talk about. But it didn’t matter.

Kale’s offering me a ride to Kona with them meant I had a ride back to Hilo, too, no matter what happened at the meeting. In other words, we had agreed to disagree and still be friends afterwards.

On the way back to Hilo, the conversation could have gone something like this: “Eh, try pass the boiled peanuts.” And we would have been friends talking stories the rest of the way.

This is how it should be. We all need to respect each other. Sooner or later, oil prices will rise again and we will have to depend on each other. We need to have a tight-knit community. We need more friends, rather than less. We also need to be close to our families.

Sustainability

Sustainable Island Products

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MEMO

Date: December 17, 2008
To: Richard Ha
From: Leslie Lang
Subject: Sustainable Island Products/Jesse Law

Richard,

I just had a great talk with Jesse Law, founder of Sustainable Island Products in Hilo – the company that had a display recently at the E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival. He sells and distributes about 100 plant-based “to go” and other products, like compostable hot cups, sugar cane paperware, plant starch utensils and more. Here’s Jesse showing some of his products.

Biodegradable packaging

What an interesting guy. You and Jesse seem to be two peas in a pod in terms of how you think about the community and the environment, and also, perhaps, your philosophies about business. The point of this memo is to convince you to call Jesse and meet him for coffee one day. I think you two would have a lot to talk about.

He told me he started his business a couple years ago when all the cover stories in the newspapers were about the landfill and waste management issues in Hawai‘i. He started looking at what goes into the landfills, and he told me he learned that Hawai‘i is the single highest user per capita in the country of single-use disposables such as plates for plate lunches, throwaway food packaging and “to go” food packaging.

Here in Hawai‘i, he said, we produce twice the national average of trash every day! The average American produces 4.5 lbs of trash per day, but in Hawai‘i we create 9 lbs. of trash per day per person.

I had no idea. When I asked him why, he said part of it is that we ship everything in, so have all that packaging to dispose of; and also that we don’t have effective composting of food scraps. He said something like 30-34 percent of the waste going into our landfill is compostable food scraps. But that’s another story.

He wanted to start a socially responsible business in Hawai‘i, started looking at what was going into the landfill and saw people were still using plastic and Styrofoam for their food. “In addition to the landfill, those also have ocean and cancer issues,” he said. “I saw the opportunity to address all that.”

He started distributing plant- based food- and drink-related “to go” supplies and other environmentally friendly products. He explained that the products he distributes are certified compostable. He calls them “Plant and People Friendly” products.

I asked him to tell me about one of his products specifically and he talked about his paper coffee cups. “Other people have a paper cup you can drink coffee out of, too. The difference is that they have a petroleum liner in their cup, and I have a biodegradable corn-based liner. Why is that important? Any petroleum-based products have petroleum distillates that leach into cold or hot foods. They leach benzene and styrene, which are listed carcinogens. And using oil, which is toxic to people and the environment, inhibits the biodegradation of the product.

“My product is certified compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute. My manufacturer is in the process of certifying that paper source. The liner is non-toxic, plant-based, and made from Natureworks PLA, a carbon-neutral, corn-based polymer.”

Another product he told me about is his sugar cane plate. “The other distributors sell a paper plate,” he said. “Paper products require a minimum of 40 percent virgin pulp, on average, to make them. There’s bleaching and de-inking, which is very toxic to the environment. The quantity of energy and water used is very big. And the paper plate leaches dioxins into your food.”

“My sugar cane product uses a non-toxic bleaching process. And it’s a secondary material. We have the product being grown here and being manufactured as a food product. The waste could be manufactured into a second product, used completely by the community here and composted back into the soil. Instead of creating landfill, toxicity and litter into the ocean, air and land, we could have a local industry complimenting the manufacture of a second product used in Hawai‘i. It’s a zero waste equation.”

Imagine – a plate that can be eaten by worms, return to the soil and is not toxic.

He told me he finds that people are really impressed with potato starch utensils. “It’s just amazing that you can make a plastic utensil out of potato starch,” he said.

The products are becoming more affordable, he said. These sustainable products do still cost more than competitive products, he said, and “generally that will be the trend until there is enough manufacturing to meet the demand. It is becoming more affordable as the cost of oil continues to go up.”

Every quarter, his Sustainable Island Products runs a newspaper ad listing and promoting all its new customers, who, he said, are taking a stand for their community and their environment.

People should understand that where they spend their money really has an impact, he said. “People vote with their dollar,” he said. “My interest is in having the public support those business that are using these types of products. That doesn’t necessary mean they’re buying from me. They could be buying them from other distributors.”

Jesse told me he doesn’t think his sustainable products are the ultimate answer to our problems. “But I’m doing what I’m doing to educate the market that there was ways to do what we do that have less impact, and that are safer, and are logical – and to try to move the market. I can’t participate in business I don’t believe has some social equity equation in it.”

Richard, he told me he’s heard you speak a few times and knows you are a leader here in sustainability issues. He also said to tell you he has a sustainable type of packaging that might be perfect for your lettuces. Go check it out!

SIPLogoSmaller

MEMO

Date: December 17, 2008
To: Leslie Lang
From: Richard Ha
Subject: Sustainable Island Products/Jesse Law

Leslie:
That is so interesting. I’m going to give Jesse a call. It goes to show that you can do the right thing and still have a viable business. Thanks for telling me.

Richard

Mauna Kea

Taking Responsibility: Creating a Mauna Kea CMP

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a Letter to the Editor I recently read in the Hawai‘i Tribune Herald. It said that the contentious and boisterous protest at the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) hearing held in Keaukaha could be seen to imply that all Hawaiians think alike.

The letter’s author asserted, though, that Hawaiians are as diverse in their opinions as any other segment of the population. And he wanted to make the point that he, specifically, did not agree with all the protestors.

This person took responsibility for his own opinion.

It made me wonder what my responsibility is now, since I volunteered three years ago for the newly formed Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) committee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board (HIEDB). I volunteered because I felt strongly that if this large telescope is to be built on Mauna Kea, it must be done right.

Subsequently, I have learned a lot about previous history and present circumstances regarding the mountain. Having gained such an education on the subject, I ask myself:

What is my responsibility to share what I know?

I have learned that there are still lingering and strong feelings of anger and resentment toward the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. People were very, very angry that prior to 2000, Mauna Kea was being controlled from O‘ahu rather than by people here on the Big Island.

I know I was very angry myself in the past. My own lingering anger was a large part of my reason to volunteer for the HIEDB’s TMT committee.

There were many selfless community volunteers back then, who took a lot of criticism as they tried to figure out how to wrest control from O‘ahu. Physical traffic and rules of behavior were subsequently transferred to the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo – but without adequate funding or authority to enforce the rules.

Because of the complexity of these problems, the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo is often saddled with those ill feelings from previous years, perhaps unfairly.

They do not work alone. The Chancellor of UH Hilo gets advice from the Mauna Kea Management Board, which is made up of very dedicated members of the public who make policy suggestions for the mountain’s management (with no pay). Kahu Ku Mauna is another board of cultural advisors—they also serve with no pay.

Recently, in a very clear, easy-to-understand ruling, Judge Glenn Hara reversed the Department of Land and Natural Resource’s (DLNR) issuance of a Conservation District Use Permit allowing the building of six “outrigger” telescopes on Mauna Kea.

Basically, the judge stated that the management plan submitted to support the application was too site-specific. It needs to be more comprehensive. So the DLNR needs to approve a Comprehensive Management Plan that takes into account the judge’s concerns. It does not say that the DLNR needs to create the plan itself.

This is why the Comprehensive Management Plan hearings are taking place now.

I attended most of the hearings and heard most of the testimony. In my opinion, the reason so much of the testimony was so emotional was because people did not believe they were being heard.

I know the people in charge of the plan, and I am convinced they are listening very carefully and will include everyone’s concerns. It is clear, though, that they have to weigh the needs of protecting the natural resource as well as the cultural resources.

There are some process questions that some feel are very important.  For example, some feel that the DLNR, not UHH, should actually be creating the CMP. They say that UHH developing the plan it is akin to the fox guarding the henhouse.

The people creating the plan are very credible experts in their field. But no matter who does the plan, the DLNR board will still have to approve it. I don’t think these people are just rubber stampers.

Some say an Environmental Impact Statement should be done alongside the CMP. I think that reasonable people could agree that the CMP is merely a plan, not a specific project. It’s not about building, or any physical project, it’s just a plan—no stones will be moved and no insects will be disturbed. To add an extra measure of care, an Environmental Assessment is being done.

Whenever a new project is proposed, it will trigger its own Environmental Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement.

But if people feel strongly about these types of process questions they can seek legal recourse. I don’t think a reasonable person would consider these issues so weighty that they should stop the Comprehensive Management Plan from being put in place.

This is all about taking care of Mauna Kea.

So knowing what I know, do I take a stand? Am I not responsible for what I know?

Judge Hara’s intent is for the DLNR to have a management plan in place to take care of Mauna Kea in a holistic way. That is exactly what we all want!

Are there questions so serious that it would be better for us to wait for an answer rather than take care of Mauna Kea now with a Comprehensive Management Plan in place? I don’t think so.

As I think about that Letter to the Editor, where the person took responsibility for his own opinion, I too feel a need to take responsibility for my own.

I say: Let’s get a Comprehensive Management Plan in place now so we can start to malama Mauna Kea.

Renewable Energy Sources

Secretary of Food

A New York Times op-ed by Nicholas Kristof, published Wednesday, starts like this:

As Barack Obama ponders whom to pick as agriculture secretary, he should reframe the question. What he needs is actually a bold reformer in a position renamed “secretary of food.”

A Department of Agriculture made sense 100 years ago when 35 percent of Americans engaged in farming. But today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat.

Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy – all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

Here in Hawai‘i, we need to rethink our own structure so we will be able to effectively deal with tomorrow’s problems. Some of our most pressing problems have to do with agriculture and energy. They are inextricably intertwined.

Fossil fuel energy has allowed agriculture to feed the world’s people. In a world of declining fossil fuel energy, we must reorganize so that our agricultural systems maximize our available resources.

This also means that we need to incentive farmers to utilize renewable energy sources. For example, it is not wise these days to subsidize value-added processing plants that depend on fossil fuel energy. When energy prices rise again, as we all know they will, those processing plants will end up as skeletons bleaching in the sun.

We know that to become food secure, farmers need to be able to make a living. It is not rocket science: “If the farmer makes money, the farmer will farm.”

Instead of relying on imported foreign labor to produce our food, we need to think about relocating our farms to where the labor supply is located. This means we need to disburse our food production so that it’s all throughout the state.

Utilizing new, renewable energy sources to generate power can catch the next generations’ imagination and convince them to farm. It’s much more interesting than watching tomato plants grow.

Read the rest of the New York Times article here.