Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [51]
In recent years, rising populations and real estate profits have spurred a building boom, some of it by off-island speculators with little concern for environmental impacts. New sprawling subdivisions and resorts have put even more pressure on a limited watershed and nearly full landfills. Plus, construction frequently uncovers and disturbs archaeological and ancient cultural sites like heiau, petroglyphs and burial mounds; protecting sites and repatriating remains can become a contentious issue that delays road building and construction for years.
The long-standing friction over Hawaii’s military presence continues. The military is notoriously noncompliant with environmental regulations, and its training maneuvers frequently have a substantial impact on cultural sights and local communities. For instance, in 2005 it was discovered that the army dumped 8000 tons of chemical weapons off western O′ahu during WWII; the first deep-water surveys are now being conducted to assess what’s there, while underwater robots are being tested as a way to clean up O′ahu’s ‘Ordnance Reef,’ a shallow reef littered with conventional bombs.
In 2006 and 2007, after years of denial, the army admitted to using depleted uranium (banned under the Geneva Convention) at O′ahu’s Schofield Barracks and the Big Island’s Pohakuloa Training Area. Conflicts also arose over the military’s planned expansions to conduct maneuvers with 325 Stryker combat vehicles (for use in Iraq) on O′ahu and the Big Island; in 2008 a lawsuit was settled allowing the military to move ahead when it agreed to let Native Hawaiians survey proposed training areas for cultural sites.
Future development of Mauna Kea’s summit (Click here) is another hot-button topic. Environmental groups and Hawaiians adamantly oppose any new astronomical observatories. In 2006, a proposal to build six new ‘outrigger’ telescopes around the Keck observatories was abandoned after a judge ruled that nothing new could be built without first developing a comprehensive summit management plan and environmental impact statement. In 2008, however, still lacking such a plan, scientists began considering whether to build a new Thirty Meter Telescope – the largest in the world – on the summit.
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The Pacific Basin Information Node (http://pbin.nbii.gov/) sounds like a conspiracy, but it’s a fantastic network of sources for information on all aspects of Hawaii’s environment.
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HAWAI′I 2050: CREATING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
How exactly do you tackle restoring the well-being of an entire society? First, you need a shared sense of purpose and a plan.
Hawaii has made great strides with both, with its Hawai′i 2050 Sustainability Plan (www.hawaii2050.org), which is the culmination of dozens and dozens of community meetings held over two years and involving over 10,000 Hawaii residents. Dubbed ‘the people’s plan,’ Hawai′i 2050 is the first statewide planning effort since the 1978 Constitutional Convention. As the plan itself states: this ‘is not an academic or political exercise; it is a matter of the survival of Hawai′i as we know it.’
The first task was defining ‘sustainability’ in Hawaii-specific terms. What came out of those 10,000 conversations was a ‘triple bottom line’ that recognized the interdependence of Hawaii’s economic, cultural and environmental health. This is expressed in five goals. To quote from the plan:
Living sustainably is part of our daily practice in Hawai′i.
Our diversified and globally competitive economy enables us to meaningfully live, work and play in Hawai′i.
Our natural resources are responsibly and respectfully used, replenished and preserved