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TONIGHT: BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION! WHERE ARE WE GOING?

andrea — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:29:32 -0800

KAUA`I- It is time to ride the wave of “together we can” energy that was produced by both the national and local elections in an action and collaboration-oriented Kaua`i-Roundtable, on Thursday, November 20th, from 5:30p - 8p at the Memorial Convention Hall, with presentations beginning at 6p.

This Kaua`i-Roundtable will focus on government, business, and community partnership in an effort to move us towards a more sustainable Kaua`i. With economic, energy, and climate uncertainties facing our world, we must come together to determine and work towards the best, most sustainable courses of action.

Hugh O’Reilly, the Mayor of Whistler from 1994 – 2006, will start off the evening with a discussion of how diverse sectors of the community teamed to create one of the world’s best models for sustainability. He will touch upon some of Whistler’s main areas of success, including solid waste management, transportation, financial sustainability, conservation lands, watershed protection, energy efficiency, preserving indigenous culture, comprehensive sustainability planning, and, most importantly, how government, business, and community worked together to achieve their vision.

The ‘silver bullet’: Our own actions

andrea — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:45:32 -0800

The ‘silver bullet’: Our own actions

It is clear that our community concern over electricity costs has once again come to a boil. We are all frustrated with the apparent lack of progress at Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.

Many people feel that we need to find a way to move past all the endless dialogue and planning and more definitively into action. These sentiments were well articulated by Walter Lewis in his column “A plan to reduce power costs,” A Better Kaua‘i, Nov. 15.

After all, what many of us want is a solution to this problem, right? We don’t want to know how difficult it is, how expensive, how many regulations there are, nor do we want to be told that idea after idea is infeasible or implausible or impractical. What we want to hear, to steal a phrase, is “Yes, we can.”

In that spirit, I deeply appreciate the efforts being but forward by Lewis, Jose Bulatao, and others who have chosen to vigorously endorse the WRE project to attempt to convert garbage into electricity. Although I think burning garbage is a terrible idea, I am 100 percent in agreement that we need to take an insistent approach to this problem, to take a stand, and to refuse to back down until we achieve a satisfactory resolution.

Our situation is a perilous one. Not only must we make definitive choices, but we must also make correct choices. We can absolutely not afford to obligate ourselves to tens-of-millions of dollars in future contractual obligations just so we can say we did something.

JHSV Contract Awarded Well Over Budget

kauaibrad — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:02:50 -0800

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

JHSV Contract Awarded Well Over Budget On Nov. 13th, the JHSV contract was awarded by the DoD Naval Sea Systems Command to, "Austal USA, Mobile Ala., is being awarded a $185,433,564 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2217) for the firm quantity of one Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV)..."

Fish and Limu are allowed on the Superferry

kauaibrad — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:39:20 -0800

"Fish and Limu are allowed on the Superferry"

Responding to the letter of 11/17 in The Garden Island News, "Superferry concerns need perspective" from Peter Antonson where he states, "...hundreds of pounds of fish have not been removed from Maui," and "During the summer, Maui's mayor got hysterical about 400 pounds of fish in a month that never left Maui."

Actually, fish and limu are allowed to be transported on the Superferry. It is the opihi, crustaceans, and rocks that are not allowed on the Superferry. In the case of opihi, unless they are immature, there is no penalty for being caught attempting to smuggle them aboard. Fish and limu are allowed to 'flow freely.'

"Take Care of the Residents and the Land First, Then Tourism Will Come"

kauaibrad — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:24:51 -0800

Excellent article:

From: http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/11/16/news/kauai_news/doc491fd91...

"A template for Lihu‘e tomorrow"
Visiting architects offer plan for sustainable town
By Luke Shanahan and Michael Levine - The Garden Island
Published: Sunday, November 16, 2008

"Community leaders and concerned citizens this week welcomed a team of architects from around the country for a workshop on sustainable design ideas for Lihu‘e, with three days of work summed up in a presentation Friday evening at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center.

The Sustainable Design Assessment Team program, which aims to provide broad assessments to help frame future policies and sustainability solutions, featured presentations on five main areas — land use and smart growth, transportation and transit, housing affordability, economic development and renewable energy — in setting up a “template for Lihu‘e’s tomorrow.”

Over three days, SDAT members, working in conjunction with the American Institute of Architects and traveling to Kaua‘i from as far away as New York and Washington, D.C., spoke with community members to get up to speed on design and development issues particular to the island in general, and the Lihu‘e area, specifically from the Wailua River to the Tree Tunnel road.

Kauai General Plan Strengthened by Kauai Voters

kauaibrad — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:28:24 -0800

Kauai General Plan Strengthened by Kauai Voters

The CRG group did a great job with this. See attached comment below for a complete list of participants in this campaign. Politicians at all levels should take note, these people and their larger group of thousands of friends are capable of anything they set their minds to. Carl gives a good interview below:

http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/11/12/news/kauai_news/doc491a7bef711...
"General Plan gets teeth"
By Nathan Eagle - The Garden Island - November 12, 2008

"Speaking loud and clear with their ballots, Kaua‘i voters last week told county government that they want the General Plan to be more than a guiding document collecting dust on shelves.

By a nearly two-to-one margin, voters said “Yes” to a County Charter amendment that will limit the development of hotels, timeshares and vacation rentals to a prescribed growth rate.

As newly elected officials prepare to implement the law, expected to go into effect Dec. 4, questions continue to arise over the “devil in the details.” While the intent of responsible growth remains clear, concerns have been voiced publicly and privately over legal and logistical aspects.

“A lot of people are tired of irresponsible government,” said Carl Imparato, one of some 100 residents who worked to put the amendment on the ballot through a citizens’ petition and then campaigned behind it. “They want the plan to be more than a vision; they want it to be a reality.”

Superferry: Slew of Information

kauaibrad — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:48:03 -0800

Thursday, November 13, 2008

"Here is the Contract...for 1 ship with NAVY Option for 9 more"

Oh, that's pricey, $185,433,564, more than twice what HSV's have gone for in past and presumably will go for in the future. Notice the NAVY has the option of 9 more, or NOT.

Here is the 'scoop,' the first accurate media report:

From: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aq1LfQ6bI2Tg&refer=a...
"Austal Wins $185.4 Million Navy Award for High-Speed Vessel" By Gopal Ratnam November 13, 2008 17:53 EST

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- "Austal Ltd., the Perth, Australia- based shipbuilder, won a $185.4 million contract from the U.S. Navy to build a high-speed vessel that will transport troops and supplies, the Defense Department said.

The work will be performed by Austal's U.S. unit in Mobile, Alabama, the Pentagon said today on its Web site. The contract includes options to build as many as nine more ships..."

Here is the actual DoD press release:

From: http://www.defenselink.mil/CONTRACTS/CONTRACT.ASPX?CONTRACTID=3903
U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Contract On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=3903
FOR RELEASE AT 5 p.m. ET
November 13, 2008

CONTRACTS
NAVY

Obama's Toughest Challenge

andrea — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:35:41 -0800

Published on Monday, November 10, 2008 by TomDispatch.com
Obama's Toughest Challenge
America's Energy Crunch Comes Home

by Michael T. Klare
Of all the challenges facing President Barack Obama next January, none is likely to prove as daunting, or important to the future of this nation, as that of energy. After all, energy policy -- so totally mishandled by the outgoing Bush-Cheney administration -- figures in each of the other major challenges facing the new president, including the economy, the environment, foreign policy, and our Middle Eastern wars. Most of all, it will prove a monumental challenge because the United States faces an energy crisis of unprecedented magnitude that is getting worse by the day.

The U.S. needs energy -- lots of it. Day in and day out, this country, with only 5% of the world's population, consumes one quarter of the world's total energy supply. About 40% of our energy comes from oil: some 20 million barrels, or 840 million gallons a day. Another 23% comes from coal, and a like percentage from natural gas. Providing all this energy to American consumers and businesses, even in an economic downturn, remains a Herculean task, and will only grow more so in the years ahead. Addressing the environmental consequences of consuming fossil fuels at such levels, all emitting climate-altering greenhouse gases, only makes this equation more intimidating.

As President Obama faces our energy problem, he will have to address three overarching challenges:

Video: Call to Action for Zero Waste: Plastic Beach on Big Island

kauaibrad — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:28:59 -0800

Saturday, November 8, 2008

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=7334574

"Big Island Beach Attracts Plastic Trash"
Nov 9, 2007
Featured Video
Pollution Spoiling South Hawaii Beach
By Howard Dashefsky

KAMILO BEACH, Big Island (KHNL) -- "A beach that was once a place where Native Hawaiians used to come to find logs for their voyaging canoes, is now a place where tons of trash wind up every year.

A once scenic beach on the Big Island is now a disturbing reminder of pollution spoiling the world's oceans.

It's one of the most picturesque place on Earth. And sadly, it's one of the most polluted. It's Kamilo Beach on the southern tip of the Big Island.

Because it's constantly exposed to the trade winds blowing directly on shore, it winds up being a gathering place for marine debris from all over the Pacific.

Specifically, it's become an accumulation zone for plastic trash.

"Here what were seeing is what all plastic trash turns into as t floats for hundreds of years in the ocean. Plastic fragments" said environmentalist Charles Moore.

What was once a beautiful white sand beach is what Moore and others now call ‘Plastic Beach'. And it is not only on the surface.

"This plastic goes down a foot deep. At one time these were toothbrushes, pens, cigarette lighters, plastic bottles, plastic caps, but now they're plastic fragments and pre-production plastic pellets, together forming a new kind of sand: plastic sand here on the beaches of Hawaii".

In all, tons and tons of debris, and none of it generated here.

Superferry: More Problems with the Barge and Personnel Cutbacks

kauaibrad — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:47:17 -0800

Saturday, November 8, 2008

The following is almost a million dollars for the tug services and repairs to the barge resulting from the tug services. Plus the newly proposed Mooring Modification to Pier 2C (and what might the cost of that be?) will put the additional costs of the barge well over a million dollars since it was delivered for operation.

The following is an excellent article today on the barge and a review of recent events:

http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/510793.html?nav=10
"Ferry fund is going dry with cost to repair docking barge" The Maui News - By Edwin Tanji
Harbors official looks at options; some blame issue on lack of EIS
"A request for $414,284 in repairs to the docking barge for the Hawaii Superferry to land at Kahului Harbor will exhaust the state harbors appropriation for ferry-related improvements, Deputy Transportation Director Mike Formby said Friday. Funds for additional projects required to modify state harbors to accommodate the Superferry "will come from somebody other than the state," said Formby, who heads the Harbors Division...Information on the request for the procurement exemption on the barge repairs can be found online at www.hawaii.gov/spo2/exempt103d/ . Objections to the request must be filed by next Tuesday." ...

Further comments on how this could have been foreseen and planned for are added directly to the following article from yesterday:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081107/NEWS09/811070368/1001...