Waikaku`u Subdivision OK’d: The Hawai`i County Board of Appeals has given the green light to a planned 14-lot subdivision in an old-growth `ohi`a forest in South Kona. At its July 13 meeting, the board voted 6-0 (with one recusal) to … Continued
The 2012 Legislature may not have passed any real blockbuster environmental bills, but several that did find their way into law represent important developments (or setbacks) for the long-term quality of the state’s natural resources and environmental health. Here’s a … Continued
Two commercial fishermen who say they were displaced by the establishment of marine national monuments in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) and Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIAs) are finally speaking out against the disbursement of millions of dollars in compensation … Continued
Step up or get lost. That’s basically what state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz told board members of the state Agribusiness Development Corporation on July 11. That day, Dela Cruz outlined his vision to turn former plantation lands in central O`ahu … Continued
For years, Susan Cordell has been studying Hawai`i’s dry forests and looking for ways to break what she calls the “grass-fire cycle.” Broadly speaking, that is when grasses get the upper hand over native dry-forest vegetation through the double-whammy of … Continued
In the end, the longliners were worried for nothing. In fact, things may get a little easier for them. On January 30, the National Marine Fisheries Service issued its new biological opinion (BiOp) on the effects eliminating the effort limit … Continued
The long contested case hearing over the proposed $300 million Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) on Maui took an unusual twist last month, with the hearing officer alleging “inappropriate … pressure and activity by U.S. Senator Inouye’s and the Governor’s … Continued
Anchialine Nightlife: The animals in Hawai`i’s anchialine ponds, to the extent they have been studied at all, have been studied mostly during daylight hours. But Troy Sakihara, a biologist with the Hawai`i Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of … Continued
I am grateful to Environment Hawai`i for running a lengthy review of Intelligent Tinkering: Bridging the Gap Between Science and Practice in its February issue, but was disheartened by Susan Cordell’s grossly distorted overview of my book’s content, arguments, and … Continued
It started out with a whimper, but the state’s feed-in-tariff program has ramped up so fast that renewable energy projects totaling more than 100 megawatts are now sitting idle until room opens up for them. Under the program, renewable energy … Continued