More Big Wind Acrimony

Star Advertiser Opinion Piece written by Jay Fidell, of ThinkTech Hawaii, a digital media company that reports on Hawaii’s tech and energy sectors of the economy and is partially funded by HECO.   See Robin Kaye’s response below

Big Wind is the central part of the Clean Energy Initiative rolled out by former Gov. Linda Lingle in 2008 and continued by current Gov. Neil Abercrombie. It would deliver a capacity of 400 megawatts of wind energy from Lanai and Molokai to Oahu by an undersea cable. It’s critical to our future but has become a magnet for activists.

The activists have leveled a litany of charges against the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; the state Public Utilities Commission; Hawaiian Electric Co.; landowners; and wind developers. Despite dozens of meetings and discussions, they claim they haven’t been informed or consulted, comparing Big Wind to Soviet repression. We all know that these endless demands for information and meetings aren’t for a good reason, but only to perpetuate the potshots.

To get closer to the debate, see the PBS “Insights” program moderated by Dan Boylan on June 30 with Walter Ritte and Kanohowailuku Helm from Molokai and Robin Kaye and Alberta de Jetley from Lanai. It’s at tinyurl.com/bigwind.

It was 3 to 1. Helm said wind farms would make Molokai an “industrial wasteland” and “aren’t on the table.” Ritte said wind belongs to the Hawaiian people. He called the people of Oahu “energy gluttons,” even though he does have ideas about benefit packages that could make a difference for Molokai.

De Jetley alone supported Big Wind and urged the people of Lanai to see the opportunities it would bring. Kaye remained intransigent. He said we should spend the money putting photovoltaic systems on every home in Oahu and leave Lanai alone.

Claims of ownership in the wind don’t work in the 21st century, especially in a state that must shift to renewables, and quickly, to survive. The wind, like the air, is a public resource. No group, even an indigenous one, can “own” and deny it to others. These claims are not and cannot be in the public interest; they distract and obstruct implementation of the state’s clean-energy mandate.

The rhetoric suggested that one island can tell another island to take a hike, but that’s not sustainable when one island is dependent on taxes paid by the other. Aren’t we all one state; don’t these resources belong to all of us? Two islands, not even political subdivisions, openly turning their backs on state policy can only lead to constitutional crisis. Didn’t we work this out in 1865?

At the end of the day, we all need Big Wind to power our capital city and the gathering place of our economy. There are a million people living on Oahu. We can never power it with PV alone. Remember, PV only works in the daytime.

Right now there are 35 MW of PV installed statewide, a small fraction of the 1,200-MW daily peak demand for Oahu. Wind is a proven technology that can be installed relatively quickly. It’s reliable and runs day and night. It doesn’t foul up the environment with odors and emissions. And our islands have some of the best wind in the world. It would be a monumental waste not to use it.

Ritte has his own windmill and wants to return to subsistence living, which is his right. But he wants the many to support the few, and in return the few to withhold from the many. That ignores local values of kindness and sharing. At the same time, he does seem to understand that when the rhetoric is done the best thing he can do for the people of Molokai is to negotiate a good benefits package. This would be a matter of fairness, not because they “own” the wind.

However we got here, right now Molokai is seriously short on jobs, businesses, money and prospects. Ritte, Helm and the people on Molokai must know about the benefits that will come with Big Wind. It’s not just for a handful of jobs; it’s for better energy prices and community enhancements for everyone there, and for a new and promising day for Molokai. Really, what would you prefer?

Castle & Cooke faces big challenges over the next few years, and the people on Lanai should be worried about an uncertain future. The hotels there are losing money, and when Murdock can’t manage them anymore, others less interested in Lanai’s welfare will scale back, close or sell those hotels, leaving still fewer jobs. Many will have to move, leaving Kaye to enjoy a lonely victory.

Kaye calls the project divisive, but it is he who has made it thus. If he prevails, we could face far greater divisiveness and an economy out of Michener’s “South Pacific.” The whipping boy might be Big Wind, but the disparities discussed on “Insights” are much more profound. We’ve had storm clouds for a while, but now somehow these things are out in the open and we’re at a turning point.

Last Thursday, Mililani Trask, another activist, made an ambitious geothermal proposal to the House and Senate energy committees. The good news is that geothermal will also use a cable to reach Oahu. The bad news could be that if the proposal picks up steam (pun), Big Wind could be eclipsed. Molokai and Lanai don’t have geothermal, so if they want benefit packages, they’d better act now.

---

Response by Robin Kaye of Friends of Lanai, an organization which opposed Murdock’s Big Wind project on Lana’i

First, thank you, Jay, for the plug. Clearly, whoever watches that show will see a different one than you did.  They will see a young man from Moloka’i speak with knowledge and passion about his home, who is willing to speak out to protect the values that have defined his life and who cares deeply that those values are secured for his children.   They will also hear an older Moloka’i resident who cares just as deeply about his family and neighbors’ future.  And while they may disagree on strategies, they both represent the best of our democracy — speaking out for their beliefs.

It’s hard to argue with someone who just doesn’t get it.  You continue to be a shill for the Lingle/Murdock Big Wind Project despite all the evidence to the contrary that it is an incredible waste of money, destructive of two of the last remaining undeveloped islands, and simply the wrong answer to an incredibly complex challenge.  Anyone who would argue in favor of eminent domain, and who belittles public input yet grabs a public microphone like the Star-Advertiser, should volunteer to have one of those wonderful windmills in his own backyard.  Or take all the 170 that poor Mr. Murdock wants to place on one-quarter — 22,000 acres!! — of Lana’i.  

Like Henry Curtis’ comment, I wonder why Jay is so adamant against public input.  Does he believe, like one of Big Wind’s consultants said in a recent Pacific Business News article, that public input is really just “noise?”  Doesn’t the fact that people on Moloka’i and Lana’i care about their homes factor into any consideration when he writes?  

His argument that we over here should just shut up and take it so we can have “benefit packages” is truly offensive.  Readers need to know that the “benefit” package offered by Castle & Cooke would provide little more than four hundred dollars PER YEAR, PER RESIDENT.  That’s two month’s electric bill for some over here.  That generous contribution would come from Mr. Murdock’s earning about $150 MILLION PER YEAR from his Big Wind project.  Another piece of their “benefits” offer was to keep employment at its current level — an offer made after they had laid off over 50% of their workforce in two and a half years.  

Of course our future on Lana’i is uncertain. It’s been uncertain since the pineapple plantation closed.  It will always be uncertain.  Did Murdock’s 25 year reign end the uncertainty?  Did his resort developments answer Lana’i’ economic challenges?  Has he sold the luxury homes he built, or filled the two hotels he built?

I would argue that the people of Lana’i and Moloka’i are to be applauded for stepping out from Murdock’s intimidating shadow and speaking out.  Many on Lana’i are speaking out for the project, so it’s far from a one-sided conversation. Those who do support this boondoggle are, like Alberta, convinced that what is good for Murdock is good for Lana’i.  Many of us here do not buy that, and will continue to speak out — despite Jay’s threats.