With this edition, Environment Hawai`i marks the publication of its 200th issue. When the newsletter began, in July 1990, I had no inkling that the enterprise would last as long as it has. Frankly, I’m blown away at the thought … Continued
Late last year, as it became clear that the Hawai`i County Council would not be re-designating or rezoning Kealakehe-Honokohau as a resort area any time soon, Jacoby Development Inc. (JDI) decided to back away from the R-word. JDI documents all … Continued
As part of its Kona Kai Ola project, Jacoby Development Inc. proposes incorporating a nine-acre marine wildlife park at the center of a lagoon system to be constructed on lands owned by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. According to … Continued
“HECO plant switch to biofuels a good move.” That headline appeared over an editorial in the <iHonolulu Advertiser on December 15, a few days after Hawaiian Electric, the utility serving O`ahu, came to an agreement with the state consumer advocate … Continued
Tad Patzek, a professor of engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, is one of a handful of biofuel skeptics with the scientific chops required to take on the new orthodoxy that biofuels are environmentally more benign than fossil … Continued
When Michael Kohn of Pa`ina Hawai`i first publicly floated the idea of building an irradiator for quarantine treatment of exports of Hawai`i-grown produce in mid-2005, he talked of having the facility up and running by February 2006. A year after … Continued
Traditional Tropical Trees: In Traditional Trees of Pacific Islands: Their Culture and Usage, Craig Elevitch of Kona has collected essays from experts across an entire ocean that describe the many trees that over centuries have become an integral part of … Continued
Judging by arguments made in the contested case hearing over stream-related water sources in West Maui, the fate of the entire island is at stake. Oral arguments in the case begin this month on Maui, and environmental and Hawaiian groups, … Continued
The contested case over the water flowing in Wailiku Water Company’s ditch system has raised an interesting question: When is an operator of an old sugar plantation ditch system considered a public utility? Under Hawai`i Revised Statutes, anyone who sells … Continued
At times, washing something can actually make it dirtier. And when that something is food, it puts the public’s health at risk. In Hawai`i, tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land are irrigated with water from open ditches, which, … Continued