#Hawaii Island Protests Against TMT

[sacredmaunakea]

Construction of Thirty Meter Telescope delayed at least 2 years

By Timothy Hurley “The UH has shown itself to be a bad manager of these important lands for over 50 years and their master plan for the future of Mauna Kea validates the fact that UH has not been listening nor do they care about the harm further development on the summits will do to the Kanaka Maoli people and to those who love and protect this mountain,” organizers said in a news release…

[freehawaii]

HAWAIIAN ELDERS AWAITING TRIAL FOR PROTESTING WORLDʻS LARGEST TELESCOPE

The Guardian - February 7, 2022 

On a cold morning in July 2019, more than 30 Native Hawaiian elders gathered on top of a mountain, committed to getting arrested.

“I wasn’t afraid,” says 83-year-old Maxine Kahaulelio. “The moment when the kahea [the call] went out, they said the big machines were coming and they were going to start the desecration … We stood there from 2:30 in the morning … freezing, 9,000 feet above sea level. They had all their gear but we didn’t have anything, just blankets and sweaters.”

Kahaulelio and the others were at the top of Mauna Kea, which at 9,966m (almost 33,000ft) is the world’s tallest mountain from base to height and is considered sacred by Native Hawaiians.

The arrests of Hawaiian elders was the climax of a decades-long debate over construction on the mountain, and in Hawaii in general.

Some elders have been speaking out against construction on Mauna Kea since the 1970s, when the area began to be used by the University of Hawaii (UH) and government for astronomy purposes due to its lack of light pollution, its above-average number of clear nights and its dry atmosphere which allows more detailed studies. More than a dozen telescopes have been built there in the intervening years.

But the project the kūpunas were protesting against was the construction of one of the world’s largest telescopes – the $1.4bn Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to be built by TMT International Observatory LLC.

Supporters of the TMT say it will bring jobs and educational opportunities to the community, through scholarships like the THINK grant, that would provide $1m a year to Hawaii Island students.

But for Kahaulelio and other elders, Mauna Kea is considered sacred in the Hawaiian creation story. “It’s like a shrine, our temple,” she says.

‘Our hearts were burdened’

During the 2019 protest the group of elders were told to move but did not. The standoff continued until law enforcement zip tied the 38 elders’ hands and escorted them to nearby vans.

Kahaulelio says the decision to have the elders arrested as opposed to the younger activists was made in a friend’s garage days prior.

“We decided we would get arrested because our hearts are burdened by what you folks went through,” she says about younger activists arrested in previous protests.

Ana Nawahine Kahoopi’i, 66, says the protests in 2019 that led to her arrest was a sight she’d never seen in her entire life.

“There were county police, units from Honolulu and Maui, DLNR [Department of Land and Natural Resources], and the sheriff’s department, they were dressed in riot gear and a sound cannon was being rolled out,” she recalls.

The incident brought together leaders in Polynesia and other indigenous communities, along with civil rights activists, lawyers, professors, students and entertainers, all who stood in support of the Native Hawaiian people. Actors such as Jason Momoa, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and artists like Ziggy Marley spoke out in support of Native Hawaiian land rights.

The protests lasted for months, with thousands of people visiting the protest site, which eventually gained a daycare, cafeteria and medical tent.

So far construction on the TMT has not started, having twice been stopped by protesters. But the UH Board of Regents recently approved a master plan for the area that accommodates the completion of the TMT.

‘Our people are still in court’

For months, Hawaiians and allies stayed on the mountain. When the risk of Covid-19 hit Hawaii’s shores, some from the movement remained on the mountain but many left.

But three years later, many of the elders who were arrested are still waiting for their day in court. If convicted, they face a petty misdemeanour charge and 30 days of jail time.

In August, a judge dismissed the charges against four of the 38 elders, including in Kahaulelio’s case.

“So, we weren’t trespassing; we weren’t blocking any roads. We weren’t doing any harm. Yes, we were in the middle of the road, to what? To stop the desecration for what other people wanted to do for Mauna O Wakea.

“This is 2022 and our people are still in court,” she says.

Billy Freitas, 64, is one of those still waiting for his trial, but he isn’t hoping for a dismissal. He’s hoping to send a message.

“All this effort – sacrificing our job, family, health, why just ask for a dismissal? I want to win this case on merits so that future generations that stand for the Mauna won’t get arrested. That’s where I stand and my attorneys know that,” he says.

Luana Neff is baffled that the cases of four kūpunas were dismissed but the other 34 were not.

“We’ve been in court for almost three years now and it’s crazy. We asked for a fast and speedy trial and here we are three years later,” she says.

In the meantime, she says she will continue to spread awareness about Native Hawaiian land rights.

“We’re doing this out of the love of this place, out of the love for our kūpuna, out of the love of our land, and out of the love for Mauna Kea, who houses the largest freshwater aquifer on this planet,” she says.

[dayseternal-blog]

Just fyi, & happy “Independence” day

If you guys see a post about a Change.org petition against Mark Zuckerberg to stop him from suing Native Hawaiians for land on Kaua‘i island, like, IT’S A WEIRD SORT OF MISINFORMATION.

I saw it 2x on my dashboard, and thought, huh?  This sounds really familiar, didn’t this happen awhile ago?  (Spoiler: 4 years ago, but the petition was made a week ago?!).  Please don’t reblog that useless petition, or delete it if you already did.

Here’s why this whole business makes me feel like 🤮:

1. Sometime in 2016, the Facebook guy was looking at his Kauai property and thought, hm, I need to own the beach over there, too (you know, how greedy rich people are).

2. He filed a bunch of quiet lawsuits to figure out who owns the land surrounding him and bid them out.  Turns out the property is owned by hundreds of different people, some Native Hawaiians since The Great Mahele (Kuleana Act & disastrous Alien Land Ownership Act) in 1850, but most of the owners were descended from one Portuguese plantation “worker” (must’ve been high up in the chain of command to be able to buy so much land back then).

3. Turns out only one descendent was paying taxes on and taking care of the land, some descendents knew about this private beach and used it, still other “family” members didn’t even know about their 0.5% parcel of land until they got notice of the lawsuit.

4. Facebook guy and tax-paying guy sorta kinda team up, the other cousins are outraged.  Facebook guy eventually drops out of this lawsuit/family dispute due to local public outcry HELLO OKAY YOU SEE HOW THIS IS OLD NEWS NOW?, but then tax-paying guy is still like, Yeah, I need to consolidate the parcels under only my ownership, let’s continue this lawsuit.  It’s in everyone’s best interests that I own the land.   (...So family drama wasn’t over.  I don’t know how the story ended, but whatever.)

Moral of the story: Zuckerberg still a poop-blazing example of a truly complete, total haole who doesn’t understand the significance of kuleana lands.  

And also importantly, a lot of that disputed land was privately owned by a Portuguese man, who bought it using money earned from working the plantations, yes, oh the strange irony in that due to the fact that it was the plantation businessmen who overthrew Queen Lili‘uokalani, and brought the unconstitutional end of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893.  This is just an example of how super rich people like the Facebook guy exacerbate and contribute to the continued systemic oppression of Native Hawaiians, how stupid laws and the Facebook guy got local, even native, families fighting against each other over land piece by piece, and how the State of Hawaii is in fact COLONIZED stolen land in the first place (happy independence day for who now?).

Initially what annoyed me so much is the false premise of the petition, whoever posted it barely looked into the background behind it (I mean, it’s 3-4 years old news, why make a petition now). 

But then I got myself worked up thinking about how this whole story in itself reads as some kind of...mockery?...of Native Hawaiian issues, how the person who posted it obviously doesn’t actually care about understanding the history and importance of native lands and just wanted to point a finger at this Facebook dude since he’s trending.  And how there’s hundreds of thousands of people just joining in on this ignorance, signing that totally useless petition without knowing any better (like petitions are great, but this one is just....so misguided).

Anyway, instead of signing that petition for a lawsuit that’s no longer even happening, there are other better ways to show allyship with indigenous people.

Donate to:

Aloha ‘Aina Support Fund (Protect Mauna Kea, yeah, the TMT protest is still happening)

Polynesian Voyaging Society (practically single-handedly started the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance, also, they inspired the movie Moana👍🏼)

Hale ‘Opio Kaua‘i - Youth Development & Treatment, specifically Kaua‘i island.

Malama Pono Health Services - specifically Kaua‘i island.

University of Hawaii - Native Hawaiian Student Services Aid Fund

Women in Need Hawaii - specifically Kaua‘i and Oahu islands.

Kumu’s Cupboard - School Supplies for Kaua‘i Educators

Even better is allyship for an indigenous nation near you:

Fundraiser for Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief

Dr. Michelle Tom’s Cause for Navajo Nation to fight COVID-19

American Indian College Fund

National Indian Council on Aging

Native American Heritage Association - Food Security & Necessities on Reservations in South Dakota and Wyoming

Inuit Circumpolar Council Alaska

Or if you have no money to give, just please keep in mind and maybe tell someone else that July 4th celebrates the independence of white Americans from Britain, all while these white Americans were simultaneously colonizing stolen land and causing 

genocide of indigenous people, culturally and literally, to today.

Celebrate the freedom to criticize the USA’s hypocrisy at its very roots 🇺🇸

Oh.  And this shouldn’t have to be said, but before reblogging petitions, donation accounts, etc., please make sure they’re legit?  Native issues get run over and forgotten about all the time by Mainland America, no need to rub it in with something wrong and useless like that petition.

[blackwoolncrown]

“According to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, “Mauna Kea is a deeply sacred place that is revered in Hawaiian traditions. It’s regarded as a shrine for worship, as a home to the gods.”

 Its land is also an important natural resource.Because of this, some indigenous people in Hawaii and their allies – including many in the astronomy community – have protested against putting TMT at the summit of Mauna Kea since the location was announced in 2009. In 2015, protests prevented construction from beginning.

Now, construction companies are trying to move their equipment to the summit to start building the huge telescope, and hundreds of peaceful protesters are blocking the access road. On 17 July, 33 protesters were arrested and the governor David Ige authorised the state to take emergency action and bring in the national guard.

“We came to protect our sacred land,” Hawaii News Now reported that a protester at Mauna Kea said Wednesday. “There’s not much more we have left.” There are already thirteen working telescopes at and around the top of Mauna Kea. If TMT is not built on Mauna Kea, there is a backup site in the Canary Islands.

[briefnewschannel]

Spain judge nixes backup site for disputed Hawaii telescope

Spain judge nixes backup site for disputed Hawaii telescope

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish judge in a decision cheered by environmentalists has put a halt to backup plans for the construction of a giant telescope in the Canary Islands — eliminating at least for now the primary alternative location to the preferred spot in Hawaii, where there have been protests against the telescope. Construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, on Hawaii’s tallest…

[therebelwrites]

“Known in Hawaiian as the kia’i, the protectors—a term the group prefers to “protesters”—seek to deter construction of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), the largest telescope in the Northern Hemisphere. Business owners and state officials promise the telescope will provide jobs, educational opportunities and high-resolution astronomical imagery.

The protectors’ mobilization stems from a number of concerns about the vulnerability of the mountain to the effects of a new, 18-story telescope, as well as a fight for Indigenous self-determination in the face of colonialist control. Mauna Kea is an environmentally sensitive conservation district; it’s also sacred in Native Hawaiian traditions and religions, remaining one of the few bastions of Indigenous cultural preservation and sovereignty in the state.

The current demonstrations at Mauna Kea are the culmination of decades of state land mismanagement and broken promises over the mountain, dating back to 1968, when the state leased the mountain to the University of Hawaii. Since then, Mauna Kea has been prized by astronomers for its high altitude and lack of atmospheric pollution, leading to the construction of 21 telescopes within 13 observatories. The TMT would be the 22nd telescope; the Washington Post (7/18/19), Associated Press (7/16/19) and other outlets have erroneously tallied the telescopes at 13.

National media coverage of the protectors’ struggle accelerated around 2014 and 2015, when the kia’i first assembled at Mauna Kea in opposition to the TMT, preventing its construction. Yet this reporting fell woefully short.

“In 2014 and 2015,” corporate media outlets “were obsessed with this idea of science versus culture, as if our kupuna [elders] haven’t practiced applied science,” Kaniela Ing, a Mauna Kea protector and Hawaii Community Bail Fund manager, told FAIR. At that time, as Marisa Peryer recently noted for the Columbia Journalism Review (7/29/19), CNN (8/27/15) published an article headlined “Science and Religion Fight Over Hawaii’s Highest Point.”

Other coverage was outright condescending. In 2014, the New York Times (10/20/14) called the protectors’ movement “creationism,” ridiculing activists’ claims that the telescope was a profit-seeking venture, omitting the TMT’s status as an LLC funded largely by multibillionaire Intel founder Gordon Moore’s philanthropic organization. The article dismissed the cooperation between Native Hawaiians and environmentalists as a “marriage of convenience,” condemning the protectors for “waging skirmishes against science.”

                   ***********************************************************

This is yet another textbook example of how white pathology works: it operates from a place of conscious GREED and subconscious LACK (because one can only be greedy if one feels a deep sense of lack on some level. I explained this in my “Happiness = Wholeness” post ). This means that, as I’ve said repeatedly, no matter how much you SURRENDER to the system, it will NEVER BE ENOUGH.

(Just look at Warren Buffett, the billionaire whom I wrote about in my post, “Warren Buffett is Not a HERO; He’s a HOARDER”, and who also happens to be 89 years old today--with a $79 billion net worth...Or glance at Jay-Z, the so-called Black “billionaire” who literally just sold out his entire culture for a few fruity pebbles (but chu got a billion dollars, though, right????)

It started with a SINGLE telescope; now there are 21. Presently, they want to build a 22nd telescope on the sacred peak--despite having an alternate location identified in the Canary Islands.

(Ironically, white scientists talk about how the fact that Mauna Kea allows for “unpolluted” views of the night sky makes it the most ideal location for the thirty-meter-telescope, YET if the Natives continue to allow the endless construction of telescopes, then the peak will no longer be such a pristine place! Aint yall read no history books??? Sigh.)

The native Hawaiians are saying that with the construction of each additional telescope on the peak, they were assured that it would be the “last one.”

Sadly, the native Hawaiians believed the rhetoric of white pathology, and the most salient solution to this stirring situation is also the most simple:

They NEVER should’ve allowed even a single telescope to be constructed in the first place.

Let this be a LESSON TO ALL.

[brieoccupied]

a lot of these posts about mauna kea and the thirty meter telescope (TMT) have been bugging me for some reason but I haven’t really been able to identify and describe exactly what i was feeling until now, when i will most likely just be screaming this into the void but. here goes anyway

things that I have seen in other posts recently that, while i understand the intent behind them, sorta make me annoyed:

1. just pick a different mountain

when deciding where to build telescopes, especially very very big telescopes like the TMT that cost a LOT of money, the teams planning the sites want to make sure that they can get as many quality observing hours as possible to make the project worth it. this includes analyzing factors such as weather patterns (specifically humidity and average cloud cover), altitude, lack of pollution (light & otherwise), and positioning of the site on Earth in order to optimize the areas of the sky that they can view and when, as well as to be able to coordinate and combine data with other telescope sites doing similar observing. so it’s not as simple as “just pick a different mountain.” Hawaii is a very popular location for telescopes because it is a place that astronomers can find all of the qualities they need for great observing conditions. However, “it’s a good place for telescoping” is not a valid justification for building on top of a sacred site where locals have been protesting the project. And guess what! The TIO (the partner group that is planning the TMT) recognizes this! On the TMT website is posted an announcement somewhat regarding the protests that reads: “Though Hawaii is TMT’s chosen site, the challenges over the past several years have led the TMT International Observatory Board to develop a ‘Plan B’, a secondary Northern Hemisphere site on which to construct the observatory. This is La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. An Environmental Impact Assessment has been done for the Roque de Los Muchachos site and additional use permits are being completed.” This is why I believe that the protestors on Mauna Kea are doing good work and really, really should continue protesting until the builders pull out! Because it will keep putting pressure on TIO and motivate them to move to this other site that should be just as good and not sacred.

2. fuck colonizers

so, no. not really. According to their website, “The Thirty Meter Telescope is being designed and developed by the TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO). The TIO is a non-profit international partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Science and Technology of India, and the National Research Council (Canada).” it is 100% not the case that this is a team of all white scientists from the continental US that don’t give a flying fuck about what they might be building on top of, and they just decided this was the best site. i will acknowledge that obviously, yes, there’s probably still an elitist tinge to the group, being from countries that push a lot of funding into science and because White and Asian/South Asian are the most common races of people in scientific fields (or at least, the least discriminated against). I understand and completely sympathize with being angry that people who do not understand your culture, a minority culture, are acting ignorant and disrespectful in a place that does not belong to them. but these people aren’t colonizers - they aren’t trying to reap economic benefits from this project, they aren’t trying to actively oppress the population in Hawaii...they’re just scientists who got excited about a good observing site and didn’t think about the consequences/didn’t do their research about the effects their project would have. which they absolutely should have to begin with! also to be clear: definitely undoubtedly fuck actual colonizers.

3. fuck scientists/astronomers/scientific progress

i agree with the sentiment and the argument to put scientific progress aside for the moment for the sake of respecting the native population and their culture - that’s entirely reasonable! but uh folks: especially in the US, we are living in a time of unprecedented anti-science, anti-intellectual, anti-reason bullshit that has been promoted exponentially by the influence of the president of the united states. so while yes, this specific scientific project needs to be halted to address this issue ASAP, saying “fuck science” and “fuck astronomers” overall could be really dangerous. I understand the intentions of native Hawaiians posting about the issue and how much it means to them to stop this project, but seeing those exact words makes me cringe. people saying “they just want to use the telescope to find aliens, this is important!” minimizes the conflict way too much, but at the same time.....tl;dr these scientists really are just trying to make some really cool new discoveries that people can get excited about, and they messed up badly in their lack of research or consideration about the site they chose for the TMT project. there needs to be an understanding and consideration of both sides, and i would love to see Native Hawaiian scientists especially contribute to the discussion to shed more light on why decisions were made the way they were and what needs to be done from here.

goodnight everybody. much love.

[gyrlversion]

Everything You Need to Know About the Mauna Kea Protests In Hawaii

By Kēhau Lyons

Nearly ten years ago, a multibillion-dollar international collaboration led by the University of California and the California Institute of Technology planned to build the largest telescope in the Northern hemisphere on the summit of Mauna Kea, a sacred Hawaiian mountain. It is the tallest mountain in the world when measured from the ocean floor; higher than even Mount Everest. In 2015, kiaʻi, protectors of the mountain, prevented that work from starting and Hawaiʻi’s Supreme Court repealed the telescope’s permit.

But the battle didn’t end there. On October 30, 2018, a ruling was handed down by the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court allowing Hawaiʻi’s Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) to issue a highly-contested conservation district use permit, allowing the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to move forward with construction this year. On July 10, Governor David Ige announced that construction on Mauna Kea would begin on the week of July 15.

As a result of Governor Ige’s announcement, a major gathering of kiaʻi have gathered on sacred and once-pristine Mauna Kea and demanded that the TMT International Observatory abandon construction of the TMT, which is slated to stand 18 stories tall with two stories gouged underground and has been designed as one of the largest telescopes ever built-in existence. That it is situated on environmentally sensitive, sacred, Indigenous land seems almost like an afterthought to its creators.

Since the beginning of our history, Kānaka Maoli, the indigenous people of Hawaiʻi, have traveled up the smooth, graceful slopes of Mauna Kea to honor our sacred and most cherished Mauna a Wākea, the piko (umbilical cord) and location of our origin story. The mountain is within an environmentally sensitive and fragile conservation district and is a part of ceded lands, which are crown lands from the Hawaiian monarchy that were stolen and given to the U.S. government when Hawaiʻi was illegally overthrown in 1893 and annexed into the U.S. in 1898. Years later, when Hawaiʻi became a state in 1959, the federal government gave those crown lands to the newly established State of Hawaiʻi via the Statehood Act, with the condition that they must be held in trust specifically for the benefit of the Native Hawaiian people.

By Jaysen Patao

Yet even with the handful of organizations dedicated to helping Native Hawaiians, the state of Hawaiʻi and the United States federal government has made it extremely difficult for Native Hawaiians to thrive and prosper in our homeland. In the case of Mauna Kea, they are benefitting off a history of imperialism and white supremacy and trampling over Indigenous rights in the name of science.

Hawaiians are not anti-science, we are anti-desecration. “We are against the building of anything 18 stories over our watershed, water aquifers, on our sacred mountain. It could have been anything; it just happens to be a telescope,” Hawaiian kiaʻi and organizer Pua Case told Democracy Now.

The TMT is a $1.4 billion endeavor and has become a symbol of modern-day colonialism. The University of Hawaiʻi, regulated by the BLNR, manages the lands on Mauna Kea, and pays the state of Hawaiʻi $1 a year to lease the land, then subleases to the observatories for $1 a year. The practice began in 1964 when the school signed a 65-year lease with the state of Hawaiʻi with the intention of building a single observatory, but a long history of mismanagement soon followed. This ignorance and willful apathy has become a devastating pattern in which settlers and haoles (non-Hawaiians) in positions of power disregard the will of Native Hawaiians, the indigenous people of Hawaiʻi.

Why are Native Hawaiians continually ignored, cast aside, and devalued? Why should we stand aside when other people commodify and monetize our language, culture, traditions, and land? Why can’t non-Hawaiians understand us when we say Mauna Kea is sacred to Native Hawaiians? Why do we have to prove why the mountain is sacred and how it is sacred to us?

Ultimately, our language and culture exist for us and by us, and it’s up to us to ensure its preservation. Mauna Kea is where our aliʻi (royalty) are buried, their bones in the ground; it is where Hawaiians generation after generation, a long and surviving lineage, have gone to gather and sing, to chant, to dance hula, to pray, to be within the living presence of mauna. As native people, we know and recognize that our mountains, water, and air are all connected on this earth. Where is your mountain? Where is your river? What are you doing to protect her?

When word spread that Governor Ige would be announcing the construction of the TMT, organizers quickly discussed plans over encrypted messages — they planned to arrive at the intersection of Saddle Road and Mauna Kea Access Road on Friday, July 12, with only a few cars at first. Soon, the crowd would swell into the thousands. By Monday, July 15, the kiaʻi assembled peacefully from the early hours of the morning in the freezing cold with ti leaf lei draped gently between each of them. The kūpuna (elder) line, three rows deep, volunteered to be on the frontline.

DLNR and heavily-armed Hawaiʻi Island police, including officers flown in from the City and County of Honolulu, were present the first two days of the stand-off; neither police nor kiaʻi budged. On July 17, the third day consecutive day, the arrests started amid tears and heartbreak. Following an emergency proclamation by Governor Ige, who granted himself more immediate powers to dispatch Hawaiʻis National Guard, 33 of the kūpuna were systematically detained and arrested, each taken to a nearby police vehicle and driven away. “Some willingly walked, but others were in wheelchairs and had to be pushed out. At least one man was lying on the ground and had to be lifted by police,” KITV4 reported. Tiare Lawrence, a community organizer from Maui, said on Instagram that many of the protesters who were arrested on Mauna Kea“were also on Kahoʻolawe fighting the same fight over 40 years ago. Their commitment to aloha ʻāina (love of the land) is unwavering.”

The arrests haven’t stopped others from gathering, as thousands of people began showing up at the sanctuary site, Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu, with their cars lined up along Daniel K. Inouye Highway (known as Saddle Road). Protecting the land cannot fall to Native Hawaiians alone, either. The upswell of support for kiaʻi on Mauna Kea has been a steady growing wave; Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Representatives Tulsi Gabbard and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruno Mars, and Bretman Rock have all expressed support for Native Hawaiians and called for a peaceful non-violent resolution. The Rock, who is of Samoan descent and has ties to Oʻahu; singer Jack Johnson; and Native Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa have all traveled to Mauna Kea to join the joyful, emotional blockade where there has been a steady stream of hula, mele (singing), ʻoli (chanting), and jam sessions.

Things seemed to quell on Wednesday, July 24, when the Hawaiʻi Island city council passed a moratorium for a 60-day break from construction to ease tensions. Subsequently, Governor David Ige took back his emergency proclamation but he also instructed his state agency, the BLNR to grant the TMT project a two-year extension to start construction.

But the fight isn’t over, and protesters will undoubtedly need help from allies — and there’s plenty of ways to help even if you don’t have the time or money to travel to the island and protest in person.

By Jaysen Patao

If you can, support by donating. 

All kiaʻi are ultimately at risk for arrest on Mauna Kea. You can donate directly to the Hawaiʻi Community Bail Fund to help protectors with cash bail, to HULI for nonviolent community organizing, logistics and training, or to the KAHEA Aloha ʻĀina Support Fund, which prioritizes frontline logistical support for non-violent direct actions taken to protect Mauna Kea from further industrial development including supplies, transportation, technical services, bail, and community meetings. You can also donate any extra Hawaiian Airlines Miles to help other kiaʻi travel to Mauna Kea, or buy a flight directly for a Native Hawaiian eager to join kiaʻi on Hawaiʻi Island.

Support by contacting the decision makers.

The state of Hawaiʻi is currently asking for comments supporting or opposing the Thirty Meter Telescope to be submitted through a Google Form. You can also contact key decision-makers including Governor David Ige, Hawaiʻi Island Mayor Harry Kim, and folks at the University of Hawaiʻi to express your support for Mauna Kea and the kia’i and encourage them against supporting the TMT project. You can also contact the people at the TMT directly and encourage them to relocate the project.

Support by using your voice. 

Join an event in your community to show your steadfast support or email maunakeaactions@gmail.com to start your own. If you are a student, alumni, or affiliated with one of the schools made up of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), you can sign this petition facilitated by Stanford Hui O Nā Moku to “meaningfully object to AURA’s support of the desecration of indigenous sacred land masquerading as a pure, innocent form of science.” You can also join the more than 200,000 Mauna Kea supporters opposing “any construction made on sacred land without the free, prior and informed consent of Kānaka Maoli,” and calling for the permanent halt of construction by the TMT.

The post Everything You Need to Know About the Mauna Kea Protests In Hawaii appeared first on Gyrlversion.

from WordPress http://www.gyrlversion.net/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-mauna-kea-protests-in-hawaii/

[fumpkins]

Scientists are speaking out against the 'violence' required to build this new telescope

Mauna Kea is already home to several observatories, but the TMT has sparked tension. (DepositPhotos/)

As protests in Hawaii shade into their second week, allies of Native Hawaiians acting to protect Mauna Kea are calling on the institutions backing the Thirty Meter Telescope project to take action to protect the protestors and, in some cases, to divest from the project altogether.

“We are just imploring the investors to divest and to prevent what could be major violence against the Indigenous people and other residents of Hawaii,” Noelani Goodyear-Ka’ōpua, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa professor and one of those standing in protest at Mauna Kea, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Friday.

Big Island Now reports that graduate students and professors from UC Berkeley, Caltech, the University of Toronto, and numerous other institutions have signed a petition asking that “members of the astronomy community leverage their power to oppose further violence against Mauna Kea protestors.”

The letter’s demands include asking the powers behind the TMT to “engage protestors in discussion with the aim to reach consensus” as well as prevent legal action against the protestors and contribute to the bail fund for those who have already been arrested.

Canadian astronomer David Charbonneau, one of the letter’s signatories, “said that the prospect that further police action will be required to move construction forward should be a concern to the Trudeau government, which has committed to advancing Indigenous reconciliation in Canada,” writes The Globe and Mail‘s Ivan Semeniuk.

Meanwhile, at UC Berkeley, a group of students organized a protest to demand that the institution divest from the TMT project altogether. “Our sacred places are becoming smaller and smaller,” Corrina Gould, a representative of Indian People Organizing for Change, told Annie Cheng of The Daily Californian. “We have to stand right now to protect the sacred sites, the places to which we are tied; otherwise, we, as humans, tend to lose altogether.”

New post published on: https://www.livescience.tech/2019/07/24/scientists-are-speaking-out-against-the-violence-required-to-build-this-new-telescope/

[sciencespies]

Protests spread as activists fight telescope in Hawaii

https://sciencespies.com/environment/protests-spread-as-activists-fight-telescope-in-hawaii/

Protests spread as activists fight telescope in Hawaii

Kumu hula Bradford Ikemanu Lum, left, greets with kupuna Noe Noe Wong-Wilson during the seventh day of protests against the TMT telescope on Monday, July 22, 2019, at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

  Demonstrations against a giant telescope planned for Hawaii’s tallest peak have spread to New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu’s tourist mecca of Waikiki as Native Hawaiians push to protect what they say is a sacred place.

  In Nevada, a few hundred Native Hawaiians and former Hawaii residents gathered under the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign to show their solidarity with protesters back home.

Elsewhere, video on Twitter showed a few dozen protesters chanting and holding signs and flags in New York’s Union Square.

Protesters have been blocking a road to the summit of Mauna Kea, a site they consider to be sacred, since last week to prevent construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.

State officials said the crowd stood at 1,500 on Monday after swelling to 2,000 over the weekend.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green said there will have to be a compromise in order for the telescope project to go forward but he doesn’t know if that’s possible.

Even though the Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled the telescope’s construction permit was valid, the question at hand is not a legal one, he said.

“This is a cultural question and the question about an entire culture’s sense of self. I don’t care what the rulings were. It boils down to how the Hawaiian community perceives itself and what vision it has for the future,” Green said in a telephone interview after visiting the protest site. He said he spoke with Native Hawaiian elders for four hours.

 Lt. Gov. Josh Green, right, walks with Noe Noe Wong-Wilson on Monday, July 22, 2019 at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. Demonstrations against a giant telescope planned for Hawaii’s tallest peak have spread to New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu’s tourist mecca of Waikiki as Native Hawaiians push to protect what they say is a sacred place. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

The lieutenant governor said it’s time for a “grand reconciliation” with Hawaii’s “host culture.”

He said that means the state taking a strong position on U.S. recognition for Native Hawaiians, moving more aggressively to provide house lots through the state Department of Hawaiian Homelands and not “shying away from” the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893.

He said he would urge Gov. David Ige to de-escalate the situation and withdraw the Hawaii National Guard. Ige has sent guard units to the mountain to transport personnel and supplies and enforce some road closures.

Protests also spread to the tourism sector, the state’s biggest employer.

 The intersection of Mauna Kea Access Road and Daniel K. Inouye Highway is seen before dawn during the seventh day of protests against the TMT telescope on Monday, July 22, 2019 at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. Demonstrations against a giant telescope planned for Hawaii’s tallest peak have spread to New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu’s tourist mecca of Waikiki as Native Hawaiians push to protect what they say is a sacred place. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

Several businesses joined a one-day “tourism boycott” organized by activists.

Old Lahaina Luau on Maui called off its nightly luau, leading to cancellations for 450 people. Because the show is sold out through the middle of next month, it wasn’t able to accommodate most guests on another night and issued refunds.

The company acted because it believed most of its employees would likely have decided to join the boycott regardless.

“So we decided, you know what, it would really show our support to our employees and at the same time reflect our support to Hawaiian culture for us to have everyone be able to take off that day,” said Kawika Freitas, director of public and cultural relations at Old Lahaina Luau.

 Bradford Ikemanu Lum performs an oli and presents ho’okupu to kupuna during the seventh day of protests on Monday, July 22, 2019 at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. Demonstrations against a giant telescope planned for Hawaii’s tallest peak have spread to New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu’s tourist mecca of Waikiki as Native Hawaiians push to protect what they say is a sacred place. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

Skyline Hawaii suspended zipline rides on the Big Island, Kauai and Maui. It cancelled bicycle and van tours to the summit of Haleakala, Maui’s tallest peak, and to the small town of Hana. The decision affected several hundred customers.

“We did have a few people that were a little bit upset, but 90 percent of the people were very understanding,” said Jennifer Puha, who works in reservations.

The company’s owner has a lot of respect for Hawaiian culture, Puha said. “He feels that we have a duty to stand by doing the right thing,” she said.

Both Skyline Hawaii and Old Lahaina Luau were to resume normal operations on Tuesday.

 Billy Freitas talks during a circle discussion with Hawaii Lt. Governor Josh Green on Monday, July 22, 2019 at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. Demonstrations against a giant telescope planned for Hawaii’s tallest peak have spread to New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu’s tourist mecca of Waikiki as Native Hawaiians push to protect what they say is a sacred place. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

Over the weekend, hundreds of people marched on sidewalks past tourists and high-rise hotels in Waikiki.

Scientists want to build the telescope atop Mauna Kea because it is one of the best sites in the world for viewing the skies. The observatory would join 13 other telescopes already at the summit, though several are due to be decommissioned in a concession to telescope opponents.

Ige has ordered the closure of the road as a way to clear a path for construction equipment. But protesters have blocked the road, creating a standoff.

On Monday, 13 state lawmakers and county council members called on Ige to rescind his emergency proclamation for the area, saying it violated the spirit of a law intended to help communities during natural disasters or threats to public safety.

They said neither describes the current situation.

 Kupuna Emily Na’eole, right, of Puna, gives testimony as other kupuna become emotional during a circle discussion with Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green on Monday, July 22, 2019 at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. Demonstrations against a giant telescope planned for Hawaii’s tallest peak have spread to New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu’s tourist mecca of Waikiki as Native Hawaiians push to protect what they say is a sacred place. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

 Emily Naeole, right, of Puna, gives testimony during a circle discussion with Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green, seen third from top left, on Monday, July 22, 2019 at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. Demonstrations against a giant telescope planned for Hawaii’s tallest peak have spread to New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu’s tourist mecca of Waikiki as Native Hawaiians push to protect what they say is a sacred place. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

 This July 14, 2019, file photo shows the summit of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea. For activists who say they’re protecting Mauna Kea, the fight against the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope is a boiling point in Hawaiian history: the overthrow on the Hawaiian kingdom, battles over land, water and development and questions about how the islands should be governed. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)

 In this Monday, July 22, 2019, photo provided by the State of Hawaii, Mauna Kea law enforcement personnel interact with protesters blocking a road to the summit of Mauna Kea, a site considered sacred in Hawaii. Scientists want to build a telescope atop Mauna Kea because it is one of the best sites in the world for viewing the skies. The observatory would join 13 other telescopes already at the summit, though five are due to be decommissioned in a concession to telescope opponents. The Hawaii Supreme Court upheld the permit in 2018. (Dan Dennison/State of Hawaii via AP)

 In this Sunday, July 21, 2019, photo provided by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, protesters block a road to the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Scientists want to build the telescope atop Mauna Kea because it is one of the best sites in the world for viewing the skies. Hawaii Gov. David Ige has ordered the closure of the road as a way to clear a path for construction equipment. (Dan Dennison/Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources via AP)

 In this Sunday, July 21, 2019, photo provided by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, protesters block a road to the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Scientists want to build the telescope atop Mauna Kea because it is one of the best sites in the world for viewing the skies. Hawaii Gov. David Ige has ordered the closure of the road as a way to clear a path for construction equipment. (Dan Dennison/Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources via AP)

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 Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green, top left, listens to testimony from kupuna during a circle discussion on the seventh day of protests against the TMT telescope on Monday, July 22, 2019 at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. Demonstrations against a giant telescope planned for Hawaii’s tallest peak have spread to New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu’s tourist mecca of Waikiki as Native Hawaiians push to protect what they say is a sacred place. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

 Kohala resident Kylie Coito, right, embraces Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green during the seventh day of protests against the TMT telescope on Monday, July 22, 2019, at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. Lt. Green spent several hours talking with activists. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

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[sacredmaunakea]

“This Huge Telescope could lead us to alien life, first it has to get off the ground”

“This Huge Telescope could lead us to alien life, first it has to get off the ground”

“Hawaii’s state constitution requires all land originally belonging to the monarchy be held in a public trust and used to benefit native Hawaiians. That includes Mauna Kea, the islands’ tallest landmark. In the Native Hawaiian tradition, the mountain is considered the dwelling place of the Hawaiian deities. Altars and burial sites can be found on Mauna Kea, and it’s still used for traditional…

[freehawaii]

DONʻT BE FOOLED - ITʻS ANOTHER TRICK TO BUILD THE TMT

Honolulu Civil Beat - February 25, 2012 

A proposed working group that would determine the future of Mauna Kea is already creating divisions among those who both support and oppose astronomy on the mountain, among Native Hawaiian groups, and among lawmakers in the Legislature. 

A joint panel of House legislators advanced resolutions Thursday morning that would form the working group. The proposals, House Resolution 33 and House Concurrent Resolution 41, now await a vote before the full 51-member House. 

But it’s not yet clear that the working group, meant to bring together stakeholders in government and Hawaiian communities, will be successful in bridging divides over development on the mountain. 

At a 90-minute hearing on the resolutions Thursday, lawmakers heard concerns over the composition of the group and what exactly it should accomplish. Despite those concerns, the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land committees voted to move forward with the proposals while only making technical, non-substantive amendments. TMT Demonstrators gather at the ahu or altar near entrance of Mauna kea Access Road. Near Kipuka Pu’u Huluhulu, native tree sanctuary and trail. 

Only Reps. Dale Kobayashi and Gene Ward cast no votes. 

The concurrent resolution is expected to run into opposition in the Senate, where Sen. Lorraine Inouye, the chairwoman of the Water and Land Committee, has already refused to give it a hearing. 

However, the working group can still move forward as long as House Resolution 33 clears the 51-member chamber, Rep. David Tarnas said. 

Its support in the broader public might be tenuous, however. Some who testified on Thursday, and even some lawmakers, see the resolutions as another way to steamroll opposition to the Thirty Meter Telescope planned for construction on the summit. 

“HCR 41 and HR 33 would attempt to create the illusionof inclusion while ensuring the majority of the voices will always favor the foregone conclusion of the sponsors: to promote further development,” Deborah Ward, a Big Island resident, told lawmakers. 

Hawaiian Membership 

The working group would consist of 15-members, including seven Native Hawaiians. 

There would be one representative each from the Office of Haaiian Affairs, the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and the Mauna Kea Observatories. House Speaker Scott Saiki would choose three House members and a chairperson to round out the group. 

Healani Sonoda-Pale, a spokeswoman for the Ka Lahui Hawaii Komike Kalaiana, also feels that the resolution would help to push forward with TMT, which stalled in 2019 and is now seeking funding from the National Science Foundation.

"We don’t see this as a way to discuss management. We see this as a backdoor into finding a way to silence kiai and to build the TMT,” Sonoda-Pale told the lawmakers. Healani Sonoda-Pale testifies during a Water, Land Hawaiian Affairs hearing at the Capitol. 

However, other Hawaiian groups, even those opposed to TMT, support the idea of the working group. Those include several of the Hawaiian Civic Clubs on the Big Island. Noe 

Noe Wong-Wilson, president of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Hilo, wrote in testimony to lawmakers that the process for selecting seven Hawaiian members, about half of the group’s membership, should be open and transparent. 

The provision that Saiki would get to pick a majority of the members for the working group, including its Hawaiian members, has previously drawn criticism from activists. 

“Failure to engage the large Native Hawaiian community in this process will contribute to the ongoing distrust and dissatisfaction for the State of Hawaii’s care of our sacred mauna and cultural resource,” Wong-Wilson wrote. 

OHA also raised issues over the composition of the group. CEO Sylvia Hussey told lawmakers that lineal descendants of Hawaii island, cultural practitioners and members of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I should be considered for the working group. 

Astronomers Push Lease Extension

Some astronomy groups and Mauna Kea protesters like Wong-Wilson have actually found themselves on the same side on the working group. But while they might support the group, they have different goals. 

The protesters and kiai, or protectors, would like to see astronomy end and TMT permanently halted. The observatories, meanwhile, hope the group can provide a path forward to get a key lease extension from the state. 

Maunakea Observatories, which includes all 12 observatories operating on Mauna Kea, is among the working group’s supporters. Richard Matsuda, chief of operations for the W.M. Keck Observatory, told lawmakers that any discussion over governance should consider extension of UH’s master lease over the summit. 

All the observatories operate under that master lease, which is expected to end in 2033 unless the BLNR grants UH a lease extension. 

The observatories group indicated that the one seat on the 15-member working group that would represent astronomers is not enough.

The University of Hawaii wants lawmakers to define a clear objective for the working group. Greg Chun, UH’s director for Mauna Kea stewardship, was among those who called for greater Big Island representation on the working group. 

Some supporters of astronomy are also divided on the issue. Thayne Currie, an astrophysicist at the Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea, said he finds flaws in how the resolutions are written. 

The resolutions target the University of Hawaii’s management of the mountain, which has been criticized by a string of auditor reports in the 1990s as well as another evaluation in December from a consultant that found UH still has trouble reaching Native Hawaiians. 

Currie thinks UH has done well in managing the mountain, and that much of the criticisms of its management should instead be levied against the state. He also doesn’t think the resolution would resolve many of the underlying issues the conflict over TMT has brought to light. 

“This will not fully fund DHHL, resolve issues over Mauna Kea Access Road, or resolve issues over Hawaiian Sovereignty,” Currie said. 

Proposal Advances Despite Objections 

Lawmakers also have differing opinions regarding the working group and how to best move forward on Mauna Kea. A majority of state lawmakers support construction of TMT on Mauna Kea, but Rep. Dale Kobayashi is not one of them. 

He sees the resolutions as just another way to push forward on astronomy development on Mauna Kea. 

“If you fool me once, shame on you, if you fool me twice, shame on me,” Kobayashi said. “This is a situation where, ‘fool me hundreds of times over hundreds of years.’” 

He continued: “This is for folks who woke up one day and decided to support astronomy over the wishes of people … this is just more of what we’ve been doing for hundreds of years.” 

Rep. Gene Ward doesn’t see the point of continuing discussion on Mauna Kea if Hawaii has already lost TMT. Mauna Kea is still the organization’s preferred site, but the observatory has also eyed a location in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. 

“If it’s moot, we are just talking about nothing for nothing,” Ward said. Senator Lorraine Inouye debate on carbon tax in the Senate. 

Other lawmakers, particularly those on the Big Island, hope it can help bridge some of the divides in their communities over the astronomy issue. 

Rep. Nicole Lowen, who represents parts of West Hawaii, said the membership of the group still needs work. 

“There’s not one voice of the people that’s a monolith, there’s a lot of different views on this. And there needs to be continuing work to come to some kind of consensus,” Lowen said. 

HCR 41 is expected to be dead on arrival if it moves to the Senate. 

Inouye already informed Tarnas and Saiki that she does not plan to give the resolution a hearing if it is referred to her committee. 

“We already made a commitment to support astronomy,” Inouye said in a phone interview. She added that UH and its Board of Regents have already taken steps to improving management of the mountain. 

The House still plans to forge ahead and create the working group even if the Senate does not support the proposal.

[punalavaflow]

State House District 1: Incumbent to face first-time candidate

Editor’s note: This is one of a series of intermittent stories about contests in the Aug. 11 primary election.

The state House District 1 Democratic primary race pits a 10-year legislator against a community activist who’s running for office for the first time.

State Rep. Mark Nakashima, a 55-year-old former teacher, said he’ll be “standing on the record that I’ve compiled over the last 10 years” representing the sprawling district that encompasses Hamakua, North Hilo and a portion of South Hilo.

His opponent, Koohan Paik-Mander is development director for Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action and former coordinator of the Asia-Pacific program at the International Forum on Globalization, a San Francisco-based think tank co-founded by her husband, Jerry Mander. She was instrumental in pressing a civil lawsuit over the county’s plans for Kukuihaele Park and in protesting wastewater discharges at Big Island Dairy, which was fined $25,000 in 2017 by the state Department of Health, and is the subject of a federal lawsuit.

The winner will face Republican Brian Evans, who’s unopposed on the GOP ballot, in the Nov. 6 general election.

Two accomplishments Nakashima pointed to are helping raise the minimum wage in Hawaii for the first time since 2007 and state investment in workforce development, including the creation of advisory committees to advise the state’s labor director on jobs in health care, agriculture and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

“The last of the increases happened this year, when the minimum wage went to $10.10,” Nakashima said about the minimum wage hike.

He said workforce development initiatives included creating microgrants “that allow for … responses to workforce needs in a particular area, for example, phlebotomists, pharmacy technicians (and) agricultural workers.”

The 57-year-old Paik-Mander describes herself as “heavily involved in sustainable agriculture” and wrote on her campaign’s Facebook page that Nakashima has given the dairy “a free pass to pollute and disfigure beautiful Hamakua.”

“What I’m seeing is our state making a lot of pronouncements about sustainability about this year or that year and resilience,” Paik-Mander said. “But I’m seeing actions that are actually going in the other direction. Like having the first factory farm in Hawaii be right smack dab in my district, making people sick. And the state has basically been turning a blind eye in the Department of Ag.”

Nakashima disputes Paik-Mander’s “free pass” assertion and said he continues to consult with DOH “in regard to the safeguards that need to be put in place” regarding the dairy.

“Kupale Ookala has since decided to file suit in federal court, which kind of takes it from the legislative arena into the judicial side,” he said. “We continue to monitor, we continue to ensure when there are issues that are brought up, we follow up with the Department of Health to ensure that things are being followed up upon. I recently went to a meeting with the new management, who sounds like they are taking steps to try and change the way that they are running the dairy and ensure there are no releases of wastewater.”

Nakashima was one of three Big Island representatives who cast a vote to increase the transient accommodations tax, or TAT, to bail out the troubled Honolulu fixed-rail transit project. Senate Bill 4 also gave counties the authority to add a surcharge to the general excise tax, with proceeds earmarked only for capital costs for the public transportation systems.

“The transient accommodations tax is paid when you stay in a hotel room,” Nakashima said. “In my mind, that would insulate our residents from having to pay this additional tax for Oahu rail. It’s limited to those who stay in hotel rooms. And unless you vacation at home, you’re not paying the tax. And also, you can decide how much you’re going to pay for the tax by the amount you pay for your hotel room.”

Paik-Mander said it wasn’t in the best interest of constituents “to give away our much needed share of the TAT to fund an Oahu project that we will never use or benefit from.”

“And that particular bill indicated some sort of mitigation for the damage, that we would be allowed to raise our GET tax. That’s no consolation for the loss of our TAT tax …,” she said. “But to rub salt into the wound for me … Mark Nakashima introduced a bill to exempt the Hu Honua Bioenergy facility from having to pay its GET tax. So this, to me, was a disservice and injustice to the constituents of District 1, both coming and going. And I pledge to never pass legislation that will be that flagrantly in violation of the best interest of constituents.”

The legislation Paik-Mander referred to, House Bill 584, passed first reading in 2017 but wasn’t heard by any committees. The bill was held over until this year’s legislative session, where it was approved by the House and passed first reading by the Senate, but didn’t receive a committee hearing.

Nakashima said Hu Honua is needed, especially since Puna Geothermal Venture was shut down shortly before its wells were overrun by lava.

“Up until just recently, 30 to 40 percent of our energy was renewable. It was geothermal,” he said. “And now that the geothermal plant has closed down, we’re back up to almost 90 percent fossil fuel. I think fossil fuel is the most damaging to the planet in terms of the greenhouse gases. … For the near term, burning trees is still considered a renewable resource because you can plant more trees. In fact, part of the program is that they have to continue planting trees. In that way, the effects of greenhouse gases is kind of negated because the gases created are being absorbed by the new trees.”

Nakashima supports the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope, saying it “offers us the opportunity to learn a lot more about the universe that we live in,” and Maunakea “is the best place to allow for the continued exploration of and quest for knowledge about deep space.”

Paik-Mander, on the other hand, said she’s “pro-science but anti-colonization, so I support the people who want Maunakea to remain TMT-free.”

A ballot initiative in November’s general election will ask voters to create a surcharge for public education funding by targeting “investment real property” valued at $1 million and more if the owner doesn’t qualify for a homeowner’s exemption. If it passes, the surcharge amount would be determined by the Legislature.

“As we look at our tax structure and the purposes that we spend those taxes on — primarily, it’s the general excise tax, the income tax and the real property tax — there is a need for an adjustment and refocusing on what those taxes are and what they’re paying for,” said Nakashima, who supports the ballot measure. “I can see the possibility the initiative could provide us the opportunity to have that discussion about re-balancing and re-purposing of our major taxes.”

Paik-Mander noted the initiative’s vagueness but said she’s in favor of an education surcharge.

“Just the mere fact that 27 percent of the state’s land is owned by people that don’t even live here, and that we have one of the lowest investment property taxes in the United States — there’s definitely room to create equity in our society. Because right now, the gap between haves and have-nots is growing, especially on our island and especially with the lava evacuees.”

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

The post State House District 1: Incumbent to face first-time candidate appeared first on Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

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[biofunmy]

Hawaii telescope backers seek permit for alternative site

The director of a Spanish research center said Monday that the international consortium that wants to build a giant telescope on Hawaii’s tallest peak despite protests from Native Hawaiians has decided to seek a building permit for an alternative site in the Canary Islands.

Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute Director Rafael Rebolo told The Associated Press that he received a letter from the head of the Thirty Meter Telescope project saying its board recently decided “to proceed with the request to seek a building permit” for the island of La Palma.

However, Rebolo insisted the consortium that already obtained a permit in Hawaii still plans to put the $1.4 billion telescope on the top of Mauna Kea.

Some Native Hawaiians believe the Big Island mountain is sacred, and protesters are in their fourth week of blocking access to Mauna Kea’s summit to prevent construction.

“We are observing what is happening in Hawaii with the maximum respect,” Rebolo, the point man for the alternative site in Spain’s Canary Islands, said.

“Our position is that we are here if the TMT project needs us,” he said in a telephone interview from the institute’s headquarters on the island of Tenerife.

Scientists selected Mauna Kea’s summit for the giant telescope because the weather and air conditions there are among the best in the world for viewing the skies.

The Hawaii Supreme Court last year ruled the international consortium behind the telescope lawfully obtained a permit to build the telescope, clearing the way for the construction to proceed.

Separately, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources granted a two-year extension to the deadline for starting construction. The new deadline is Sept. 26, 2021.

Given the opposition, the international consortium in October 2016 announced a backup location in the Canary Islands — Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma.

Rebolo said local officials who would have jurisdiction over a La Palma building permit for the new telescope solidly back the project and that the observatory site has already passed environmental impact evaluations.

“Our mountains are not sacred,” he added.

A Native Hawaiian protest leader called the development regarding the building permit a good sign.

“There’s lots of good science to be done from the Canary Islands,” said Kealoha Pisciotta, who has helped organize the blockade on Mauna Kea. It would “be a win for everyone.”

But the news won’t prompt protesters to stop demonstration, she said.

Kaho’okahi Kanuha, another protest leader who has been arrested several times trying to block telescope construction on Mauna Kea, said he hopes telescope builders make the “right decision” and move the project to the Canary Islands.

“We remain committed to protecting Mauna Kea from further desecration, no matter how long it takes,” he said.

Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, whom Hawaii’s governor tasked with finding common ground among Native Hawaiian leaders, protesters and telescope stakeholders, said it would be a loss for his island and the state if the telescope was built in Spain instead.

“I thought this could be a good thing for Hawaii if done the right way,” Kim said.

But the mayor also acknowledged that injustices against the Native Hawaiian community need to be addressed. “Part of the right way is a recognition of wrongs of past.”

The mayor said his responsibility is to find a better way forward that addresses the many complicated issues involved with the battle over the telescope, including the economics for the Big Island.

“If this opportunity is lost, and I do mean it, there will be a sadness on my part,” Kim said. “Not only because of science and education and opportunity, part of my responsibility is to try to find ways to make a better economic base for this island.”

He said he doesn’t want his county’s entire economy to be based on tourism like it is on the other islands in Hawaii.

On “Maui, Kauai, and Oahu, the vast, vast majority of those people on those islands and counties can no longer own a home because of what has happened economically,” he said.

The telescope “was one of the ways — besides agriculture, beside where we develop resorts and how we develop resorts — of my long-range viewpoint of what would be better for this island.”

Thirty Meter Telescope executive director Ed Stone said in a statement Monday that the group still prefers Hawaii’s Mauna Kea.

“We continue to follow the process to allow for TMT to be constructed at the ‘plan B’ site in La Palma should it not be possible to build in Hawaii. This process has been ongoing since 2016,” Stone said.

The University of Hawaii, which leases the land that the telescope plans to build on, released a similar statement saying the latest action is simply a continuation of steps that have been underway for several years.

But officials planned to begin construction in Hawaii more than three weeks ago, and Native Hawaiian activists say they won’t budge until the telescope goes elsewhere.

A spokeswoman with Gov. David Ige’s office was not immediately able to respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Spain’s science minister, Pedro Duque, reiterated the government’s full support for the Canary Islands as a Plan B site for the telescope and said the country is well-prepared to host it.

“We have all the necessary plans at all levels — the people, the speed, the systems, absolutely everything is ready if they want to come,” Duque said.

The Canary Islands archipelago, located west of Morocco in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, is already home to several powerful telescopes. The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory hosts more than 20.

The site in Hawaii, which is considered the best place for astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere, is also already home to more than a dozen telescopes.

———

Jones reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writer Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.

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[shirlleycoyle]

The Battle Over a Telescope on Hawaii’s Sacred Mountain Is Just Beginning

Thousands of people including Native Hawaiians—Kanaka Maoli or Kanaka ʻŌiwi—gathered at Mauna Kea last week to protest the construction of an enormous, $1.4 billion telescope on Hawaiʻi’s tallest mountain.

With this telescope, astronomers could spot the universe’s oldest stars or potential signs of life on exoplanets; its giant mirror rendering images that are 12 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope. But to many Native Hawaiians, the project has become a pinnacle of colonialism on the island.

“At Mauna Kea last week, we were a line of women standing face-to-face with police forces,” said Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, an associate professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and guardian of the sacred mountain.

“We were preparing for them to use pepper spray and batons,” she said. “But we knew that whatever happens on the mauna, [there is going to be] a reckoning.”

Last Wednesday, police arrested 33 kupuna (elders), some in wheelchairs, for peacefully opposing the mountain’s desecration. The arrests sparked an outcry of support for the Mauna Kea protectors, or kiaʻi, as the movement’s activists are broadly known.

From Auckland’s Aotea Square to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, people across the world are now pressuring Hawaiʻi to halt construction and listen to its native voices. On the national stage, representatives Tulsi Gabbard and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren, have each expressed their solidarity for Mauna Kea protectors. Hawaiʻi’s own delegates, Representative Ed Case and Senator Mazie Hirono, defended the movement as well.

“To feel that kind of love, and ultimately that’s what has been emphasized over and over— kapu aloha—it’s driven so much by a love for this land and each other that it totally overshadows what it’s against,” said Goodyear-Kaʻōpua. “It’s really what we are about.”

The state will ultimately decide the telescope’s fate, but with the project at an impasse it now faces three paths forward, and each will have some detractors. The telescope could be moved to an alternate site. The state could also halt construction and begin to heal historic rifts. Or construction could resume at the expense of Native Hawaiians.

Why is the summit of Mauna Kea so contested?

A decade ago this July, an international consortium of science institutions selected Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano, as the site for the largest optical telescope in the Northern Hemisphere, and second-largest in the world. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), named for the length of its primary mirror, would join 13 observatories on Mauna Kea’s summit, one of the planet’s most ideal locations for skywatching.

The exceptional environment atop Mauna Kea—the dizzying altitude, the dark cloudless nights, the eerie calm—has made it a hotspot for international astronomy since the 1960s. But from the perspective of Native Hawaiians, its qualities transcend those only recently deemed useful to Western science.

To Native Hawaiians, Mauna Kea’s ecology is a manifestation of its sacred significance. Its white peaks said to be shaped by Poliʻahu, the goddess of snow, and her sisters, the goddesses of fresh water, hail, and chilling frost who dwell there. The mountain itself arose from Wākea and Papahānaumoku, the sky father and earth mother, to whom Native Hawaiians also trace their lineage according to oral histories. The name Mauna Kea, stemming from “Mauna (mountain) a Wākea,” denotes this genealogy.

Mauna Kea’s well-being, then, is intimately felt. Such is the concept of aloha ‘aina, literally meaning “love of the land,” which among many things embodies that interconnectedness.

Given the focal role of Mauna Kea in Native Hawaiian life, the construction of observatories on its summit is a charged issue stemming from the islands’ painful colonial history.

Mauna Kea is part of “ceded lands” that belonged to the Hawaiian monarchy, and were taken during the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani by American-backed businessmen in 1893. After Hawaiʻi’s statehood, the parcels were given to the federal government, meant to be held in trust for the benefit of Native Hawaiians. But history indicates that the islands were illegally annexed, and its land stolen—something the United States has formally acknowledged but not atoned for.

In 1959, authority over Mauna Kea was transferred to the state’s Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR). It now leases the summit to the University of Hawai’i for $1 per year, which in turn manages subleases for telescopes built there. In 2014, a peaceful protest was held at the TMT groundbreaking ceremony, attracting international attention. The opposition led to a 2015 decision by the Supreme Court of Hawai’i to invalidate the telescope’s building permit.

But after years of litigation, the project was granted a new permit in 2018, and construction was scheduled to renew on July 15, 2019. When kiaʻi assembled at the base of Mauna Kea, they were met by unarmed National Guard units, deployed by Hawai’i governor David Ige who later declared a state of emergency, for which he is being sued. Protests at Mauna Kea have drawn up to 2,000 people, and construction remains suspended.

Things now are in a holding pattern, and while Ige did not respond to a request for comment, he has repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to finishing the project.

“I support the vision [Hawaiʻi County Mayor Harry Kim] has widely articulated for Mauna Kea as a beacon of hope and discovery for the world that brings us together rather than divides us,” Ige said in a statement on Tuesday.

The TMT board is also deliberating. Spokesperson Scott Ishikawa described the situation as “very fluid,” saying it doesn’t have a date for when construction could resume. In essence, the status of the telescope is in limbo.

“Right now, it’s kind of status quo,” said Dan Dennison, a spokesperson for the BLNR, in a phone call on Tuesday. Dennison said he expects state officials to make an announcement about the status of the TMT in the coming days.

“I think the ball is in the state’s court, but we’ve seen the tides turn recently,” said Kaniela Ing, a former Hawaiʻi state representative.

If a new date is set, government officials will decide what kind of law enforcement will accompany crews to the summit. Ishikawa said the telescope’s board isn’t aware of these enforcement plans.

“We remain hopeful that we can find a way forward, with mutual respect,” he said. “As many of the protestors have said, this is not about TMT or science. Among those who remain opposed are many who see TMT as an icon for what they believe is the wrong side in the much larger political issue of Hawaiian sovereignty. We respect those who express opposition and understand the pain they feel.”

What if the telescope is built on Mauna Kea?

If the state forges ahead with the telescope’s construction, it may fracture any hope of trust between Indigenous peoples and the scientific community.

“The way the project was handled has created such a huge rift, there’s no way to heal it and also build the telescope.”

This path would be an obvious disappointment for kiaʻi who have invested so much into preventing the desecration of sacred lands. But the implications of resuming construction—especially if it involves a military presence—are distressing to many scientists and STEM students as well.

Among them are Mithi Alexa de los Reyes, a graduate student in astronomy at Caltech, and Sal Wanying Fu, an incoming graduate student in astrophysics at UC Berkeley. The pair co-wrote an open letter “to denounce the criminalization of the protectors on Maunakea,” which was posted on July 17. It has been signed by more than 900 scientists and students.

In the letter, Fu and de los Reyes do not take a stance on whether the TMT should be built on Mauna Kea, and instead condemn the decision to arrest kupuna and bring in the National Guard. Such actions are a detriment to the reputation and quality of scientific work, they said, in part because they alienate marginalized peoples within the sector.

“We worry first and foremost about the long-term damage to the relationships that various scientific communities have with people who are Indigenous—not just because they are Indigenous to land that may be seen as valuable for various scientific endeavors, but also because Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding the universe are just as valuable as western science,” Fu and de los Reyes said.

There have recently been more efforts to incorporate Indigenous knowledge systems into scientific research, and the academic community has nominally embraced these values. But some scientists regard the pace of progress as glacial, with issues like Mauna Kea making them feel even more estranged within their fields.

The “ongoing conversation around TMT is influencing our feelings of belonging in astronomy, and whether or not we believe academic astronomy really values us as full human beings,” Fu and de los Reyes said.

Can the telescope be moved to a ‘Plan B’ location?

But if it were up to many people in Hawaiʻi, native and non-native, the telescope would be built somewhere else. TMT scientists considered many sites before choosing Mauna Kea, and say they are still exploring the option of moving it to La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands.

“While our efforts are currently focused on construction of the TMT in Hawai’i, the La Palma location is still being considered if re-starting construction on Mauna Kea is not feasible,” a spokesperson for the TMT said.

The La Palma site is slightly less ideal than Mauna Kea because of its lower elevation and greater atmospheric turbulence, but still has extremely good viewing conditions and already hosts the Gran Telescopio Canarias, the largest optical observatory currently in operation.

The option of relocating the telescope has gained a foothold in the academic community. Scientists around the world—from astronomers to biologists to physicists—have opposed the project, sparking movements such as Twitter’s #ScientistsForMaunaKea hashtag.

Proponents of this option do not see the controversy over the Mauna Kea location as a zero sum game. Swapping Mauna Kea for the Canary Islands would still enable the TMT to be built at one of the best observational locations in the world, they argue.

“The way the project was handled has created such a huge rift, there’s no way to heal it and also build the telescope,” said Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, who supports moving the TMT to the Canary Islands.

The Associated Students of the University of Hawaiʻi, an undergraduate student government, share that sentiment and issued a resolution in 2014 saying the cultural and environmental impacts of the telescope on Mauna Kea outweigh its benefits.

The depiction of this struggle “as a clash between out-of-date spirituality and rigorous, modern science” is a false dichotomy, wrote scholars Keolu Fox and Chanda Prescod-Weinstein in the Nation. The islands have long been a laboratory for scientific inquiry, but colonial methods have devalued these forms of knowledge.

“It’s not about science versus culture,” said Kamana Beamer, an associate professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. “It’s about mismanagement and saving some of the few pristine areas we have.”

Can construction be halted to make way for a Native Hawaiian vision?

On July 18, Hawai’i State Senator Kai Kahele suggested implementing a 60-day moratorium on construction of the telescope on Mauna Kea.

“It’s time for a cooling off period,” Kahele told the Hawai’i Tribune-Herald. “I think it’s time to de-escalate this situation. I think it’s time for ho‘oponopono (mediation and conciliation). I think it’s time to have meaningful conversations for the future of Mauna Kea.”

In the event of a moratorium, Ing said he hopes that resumed construction could be contained within the existing footprint of Mauna Kea’s observatories. That would mean decommissioning older telescopes and repurposing their foundations so that new soil is not disturbed. While five of these telescopes are slated to be shut down by 2033, nothing requires this to happen before the TMT’s groundbreaking.

For many Native Hawaiians, these terms were wholly unacceptable and would do little to rectify decades of poor stewardship on Mauna Kea’s slopes. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) sued the state and the University of Hawaiʻi in 2017 for “longstanding and well-documented mismanagement” of the mountain, but the problems started long before then.

In 1996, an entomologist found that telescope construction on Mauna Kea had wrecked the habitat of a tiny, peculiar insect with antifreeze for blood: the Weiku bug that is unique to the summit. Workers had cut into a crater wall where the insect resided, causing untold destruction to the rare species. The University of Hawaiʻi eventually apologized and funded a study of the arthropod, but “efforts to gather information […] came after damage had already been done,” a 1998 state audit found.

The TMT’s construction risks even more destruction and environmental degradation. In 2010, an environmental impact statement conducted by the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo predicted “a potential for accidents” during the TMTs’ construction, including fires and the spilling of hazardous waste. An official TMT document warned that dust and greenhouse gas emissions from human activity may impact “cultural, botanical, wildlife, and astronomical resources” on the mountain. Some environmentalists also worry that shifts to Mauna Kea’s climate may accelerate the decline of snowmelt there, Grist reported.

Native Hawaiians say they have long struggled to get telescope operators to recognize them when it comes to Mauna Kea. Authorities such as OHA have proposed guidelines for consulting with “knowledgeable practitioners and ‘ohana with lineal ties and ongoing, living practices associated [with] Mauna Kea lands.” In other words, people who speak for the mauna.

But for astronomy to do right by them, it will take more than just symbolic outreach like bestowing celestial bodies with Hawaiian names.

“There’s a certain fatigue that the Native Hawaiian community has about outreach,” Ing said. “You talk to a few consultants that will be sympathetic, incorporate names and stories, do a blessing and cut some ti leaf when you groundbreak, and all is good. But I think that era is coming to a close.”

“We’re not looking to bless other people’s projects anymore,” agreed Beamer. “We want significant leadership in designing and crafting our vision for the future of Mauna Kea and Hawaiʻi for that matter.”

Some want the university to invest in reforestation. Telescopes have damaged the mountain’s summit, but ranching and military have also left their mark on its fragile ecosystems.

The state could also grant Mauna Kea personhood, bestowing it “the legal rights of people to be healthy and protected,” Goodyear-Kaʻōpua said. This is already occurring in Aotearoa (New Zealand) where lands and rivers, such as Mount Taranaki, have been deemed “legal persons,” recognizing these places as Māori ancestors.

*

The ongoing battle for Mauna Kea eclipses the field of astronomy. It confronts more than 125 years of American imperialism in Hawaiʻi, interrogates false paradigms about science for all humankind, and demands a future that is just.

But at the root of everything is a devastatingly fundamental question: How can human progress occur on stolen lands?

“What we’re experiencing is the tipping point of justice for Hawaiians in Hawaiʻi,” Beamer said. “It began with some courageous truth speakers, and the truth has galvanized a movement that we’ve never seen in Hawaiʻi since we were an independent country.”

The Battle Over a Telescope on Hawaii’s Sacred Mountain Is Just Beginning syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[specbn-blog]

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson joins native protesters in Hawaii

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson joins native protesters in Hawaii

Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, right, is greeted by community leader Pua Case during a visit to the protest site blocking the construction of the TMT telescope on Wednesday, July 24, 2019, at the base of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

[FOX NEWS] Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson joined native Hawaiians for a peaceful protest against a $1.4 billion telescope…