April's Action Alert Line-Up
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| Aloha mai Kakou! Spring is here, which means the rains will be coming to an end soon and so will the 2009 Legislative Session. In these last heated weeks of the session, the public will get one last chance to be heard on the proposals affecting our environment and culture. At the same time, it is important not to ignore key decisions affecting our public trust resources that are being made outside the Capitol. To help you keep track of it all, here are four pressing issues to take action on right now and help protect the things we all love about Hawaii nei. 1. Defend the NAR Fund… because Conservation Can’t Wait!
On Monday, the State Ways & Means Committee will consider a measure to take money away from the Natural Area Reserve Fund in order to balance the state budget. For the last ten years, this fund has provided for the conservation programs that have successfully protected our native forests, supported important watersheds, and controlled invasive species – not to mention provide affordable housing and encourage local agriculture. Cutting this fund now will short-change our children by denying them the benefit of clean water, climate change control, and healthy native ecosystems. Plus, we all know it is simply unnecessary because the state could generate at least $50 million a year from the foreign telescopes that currently use state land on Mauna Kea for free! If the state just renegotiated those leases to be fair (and legal), then Hawaii could weather this economic crisis without cutting programs (or jobs). Take action now! Tell Hawaii’s Senators: Don’t Raid, Make the Telescopes Pay. This is it. All of the hardwork to protect Mauna Kea from the pressure to build ever-larger telescopes will culminate in two hearings this week: – On Monday, in Honolulu, the State Ways & Means Committee will decide whether to pass HB 1174 to transfer authority for Mauna Kea to the University. – On Thursday, in Hilo, the State Board of Land and Natural Resources will decide whether to adopt the University’s latest development plan for the summit. Though the University continues to claim it now can properly manage the summit, the details of their plan reveal this is just the same old scam to consolidate its control over the public’s sacred summit. The University’s latest’s scheme does nothing to protect Mauna Kea’s unique and endangered alpine habitat, uphold continued cultural and religious practices on this sacred summit, or control telescope development. Add your voice to the thousands who have already spoken up in support of genuine protections for the sacred summit of Mauna Kea – just click here. Attend the Public Hearing in Hilo on April 8th and 9th at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel (71 Banyan Drive, 96720) at 9:00 am in the Moku Ola Ballroom. 3. Industrial Aquaculture Invades the Kohala Coast Huge, untethered, self-powered, underwater spheres crammed with thousands of fish floating off our coast. Yikes! Sounds like a science fiction B-film, but this is exactly what is being proposed for the Kohala coast of Hawaii Island. Hawaiian Oceanic Technology, Inc. is applying for a permit to create a new massive tuna ocean fish farm. They want to use 247 acres of our ocean to house 12 orb-like cages so they can grow tuna and export it out of Hawaii. Their draft EIS does not answer the basic questions everyone is asking: - How much waste will be created and how will it affect the marine environment? Our ocean is a public trust resource and the public deserves to know what is going to happen to it before this project causes any harm. Click here to ask Hawaiian Oceanic Technology and the approving agencies to address the public’s concerns and questions before using our waters for a project that could hurt our ocean and the wildlife in it. 4. Uphold Your Right to Go Beach – Support the Public Access Rights Bill Even though the public’s right to access the shoreline is protected by law, the lack of enforcement has created a de facto barrier on public beach access. S.B. 1088 is a simple bill that would help improve enforcement of beach access… if only it could get a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. Click here to urge Rep. Karamatsu to hear S.B 1088 regarding public access. If you have a few minutes, give Rep. Karamatsu a polite phone call at 808-586-8490. Mahalo Pumehana, www.kahea.org |
Sacred Lake Waiau in the Natural Area Reserve at the summit of Mauna Kea. KAHEA: the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance is a network of thousands of diverse individuals islands-wide and around the world. Together, we work to secure the strongest possible protections for Hawaii’s most ecologically unique and culturally sacred places and resources. Mailing Address: KAHEA is funded grassroots-style, and does not receive any Federal or corporate money. It is the financial support of many INDIVIDUALS, all giving what they can, that keeps the lights on and the campaigns going here at KAHEA.
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