How high, exactly, will the bar be? One of the first requirements needed to carry out Hawai`i’s pioneering greenhouse-gas regulation law was to develop a benchmark for future regulation. Under the law – Act 234 of the 2007 Legislature – … Continued
Little Ant, Big Problem: It’s only a sixteenth of an inch long, but don’t underestimate the punch it packs. The little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata) was first found on the Big Island in 1999. Although a quarantine was placed on … Continued
Last year, economists with the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. released their analysis of what it would cost to abate greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The December 2007 report – Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at … Continued
<b>Old `Ohi`a:</b> Pat Hart thinks he may have found the oldest broadleaf trees in the Northern Hemisphere – right in his back yard. More than a decade ago, Hart, a professor of biology at the University of Hawai`i – Hilo, … Continued
Nature Conservancy Withdraws from Honouliuli The Nature Conservancy of Hawai`i has decided to refocus its management efforts on intact native habitats. And because its 3,600-acre Honouliuli preserve contains a mix of native and non-native habitat, TNCH asked the state Department … Continued
Controversy Flares Over Proposal to Control Waiawi with Scale Insect The proposed release of a scale insect to control strawberry guava, or waiawi (Psidium cattleianum), has sparked an outcry of opposition among some sectors of the public. Yet, although the … Continued
Opponents of the planned introduction of a biocontrol agent for strawberry guava have raised several arguments. Here are the top concerns, along with the responses from scientists with the Forest Service, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and others: • The … Continued
A dream, or a nightmare? A visionary solution to Hawai`i’s growing problems of rubbish and oil dependency? Or a pie-in-the-sky proposal, completely untethered from reality? Those were among the conflicting views of a proposal that recently came before the board … Continued
According to Mike Dworsky, Hawai`i County’s director of solid waste, on an average day, the West Hawai`i landfill at Pu`uanahulu takes in from 380 to 400 tons of refuse. For each ton delivered, haulers pay a tipping fee of $85. … Continued
Last year, the state Legislature authorized up to $10 million in special purpose revenue bonds to help Sopogy build a solar-energy plant at Keahole, Kona, on state land administered by the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai`i Authority. That cleared the … Continued