A few days after the Peak Oil conference has ended, things are starting to become clear.

We have the oportunity to both make positive changes and also solve our energy problems. But we will need help from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo to analyze Big Island energy options from a holistic point of view.

The distribution curve of median family income is skewed heavily toward low income folks on the Big Island. The median family income in the state is $56,000. On the Big Island, it is $46,000.

Here on the east side of the Big Island, it is in the mid-30,000s. True aloha requires us to fix this, for all our sakes.

Last year when the oil price spiked, gasoline prices spiked as well. For the first time some of my workers asked me if they could borrow money for gas to come to work! The lower income folks were hurt bad.

It is no secret that I believe that biofuels are no solution to our energy problems, because return to the farmers would be too low.

But biofuels would also be as or more expensive than fossil fuels to the final customer. My workers would still have to borrow money for gas. What good is that?

The state of Hawai‘i legally owns our geothermal resource. So any royalties from its use must be paid to the state and to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA).

Right now, Puna Geothermal Venture pays the state $3.5 million a year, and OHA gets 20 percent of that. That’s $750,000 a year generated from geothermal en to OHA.

Also, the cost to consumers is less than that of fossil fuel and it will not go up when fossil fuel prices go up.

We need to put in more geothermal, not less. More money would go to the state and to OHA. Geothermal has low and stable costs, which results in more discretionary income left in people’s pockets. When they spend that money, businesses can hire workers, who can then take care of their families.

Taking care of people, this is true aloha. The tougher it gets, the more we need to take care of each other.

Geothermal energy is a gift of true aloha.