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Environment

News stories regarding Molokai’s outdoor environment

Biodiesel: A Viable Option

Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

Biodiesel: A Viable Option

Molokai farmers explore renewable energy alternatives

Kukui nuts have long been used by Hawaiians for food and medicinal purposes, but it may soon be also used for fuel –specifically, biodiesel fuel. Wayde Lee, who created the Molokai Sustainable Farming Project (MSFP) last year, has been exploring biodiesel initiatives that he said may lead to economic stability and energy security for Molokai farmers. Recently, they’ve been working with Maui-based company Pacific Biodiesel (PBD) to discuss the possibility of eventually developing a crushing and processing plant on-island that would produce biodiesel fuel for Molokai from crops farmed on Molokai.

According to Wescott Lee, Wayde’s brother and MSFP’s project facilitator, over 2.5 million gallons of diesel are imported to Molokai every year, most of which goes towards powering the Maui Electric Company Molokai electric plant.…

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Beyond Big Wind

Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

Scope of clean energy initiatives broadens

When the Wind Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) scoping meeting was conducted in February of last year, many Molokai residents stood outside of the Mitchell Pauole Center waving signs that protested the state’s proposed Big Wind and undersea cable initiatives. From the comments that were made then, the panel, made up of both state and federal officials, returned to the drawing board and drafted instead the Hawaii Clean Energy PEIS, which promises to analyze not only wind energy, but a broader range of renewable energy initiatives and technologies, according to the initiative’s website. The goal is to meet 70 percent of Hawaii’s energy needs through energy efficiency and renewable energy by 2030.…

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Fruit of the Land

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

Fruit of the Land

New Molokai Fruit Stand markets local produce

A few months ago, Kalamaula Homesteader and third generation farmer Gene Ross Davis found himself in a predicament. His tomato crops had yielded too many tomatoes for on-island consumption, but not enough to ship off-island. In order for it to be profitable for him to ship his tomatoes for sale off-island, he would need enough to fill an entire palate of 25-pound boxes –nearly 500 pounds total of tomatoes. With the help of his wife Rosie, Davis found another way to market his produce –he opened a fruit and vegetable stand on his property last week.…

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Sust`ainable Molokai Named Finalist in National Program

Friday, September 14th, 2012

Sust`ainable Molokai News Release

Local nonprofit Sust`ainable Molokai has been selected as the only finalist from Hawaii in the Tom’s of Maine “50 States for Good” program. That means it now has a chance to win up to $50,000 in support of a community project that will engage student and community volunteers to plant 5,000 trees to heal our aina (land) and recharge our single source aquifer.

Through a online public vote at Facebook.com/TomsofMaine now through October 9, local residents can help bring the funding to Molokai with the click of a mouse.

The “50 States for Good” program seeks to uncover local nonprofit groups that address urgent community needs and engage volunteers to get the work done.…

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West Molokai Association Opposes Big Wind/Undersea Cable Project

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

West Molokai Association News Release

The Board of Directors of the West Molokai Association (WMA), representing the owners of 811 West Molokai properties, has unanimously declared its “resolute opposition” to the proposed Big Wind industrial wind project and Hawaii Inter-Island undersea cable, and stated it will take whatever steps necessary to halt the project.

The project would cover 17 square miles of Molokai with industrial wind turbines 47 stories tall. It is being planned by HECO, Molokai Ranch, Pattern Energy and Bio-Logical Capital, and is backed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

Noting that the project would “dramatically alter and irreversibly change West Molokai’s rural character and pastoral environment,” the Board’s resolution added that it would also result in increased electrical costs for Hawaiian residents, already among the highest in the United States.…

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Baking for the Masses

Wednesday, September 12th, 2012

Baking for the Masses

By 6 a.m. on most weekdays, Valerie Dudoit Temahaga already has her booth set up along Ala Malama Ave. in Kaunakakai and the smell of fresh-baked goods is wafting down the street for early-morning workers who come from as far as Molokai’s east end. Since the temporary closure of Kanemitsu Bakery’s operation earlier this year, many Molokai residents have turned to Temahaga’s pastries as a source for their baked goods.

“When the bakery closed, people asked me to bake and sell here,” said Temahaga, who started baking over 30 years ago. “I never expected it to get this big though. It was really exciting for us when people started buying from our back doors [at Lanikeha] like they did at hot bread lane.”…

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Molokai Mom on a Mission

Wednesday, September 12th, 2012

Community Contributed

Opinion by Mercy Ritte

It is a mother’s right to know if, what, and when noxious chemicals are being released into the air, water, and soil that their children are in contact with. I did receive a response from Monsanto Molokai to my inquiries, but my specific questions were left unanswered. Only with additional research and determination was I able to find partial answers.

Below is a short list of chemical herbicides and pesticides manufactured and used by Monsanto and other industrial agriculture corporations.

HARNESS XTRA
Active Ingredient: Atrazine (and Acetochlor)
Fact: Atrazine is estimated to be the most heavily used herbicide in the U.S.…

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Protecting Public Lands

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

Residents testify against the PLDC at public hearing

“It is dangerous to put public lands in private hands,” said Molokai resident Kauhane Adams. Yet it seems that this is exactly what legislature created the Public Land Development Corporation (PLDC) to do when they passed senate bill Act 55 in 2011 that established the corporation.

The PLDC’s intent to “generate additional revenues for the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) by developing under-utilized or unused public land,” according to a written statement circulated by the PLDC.

Homesteader Adolph Helm claimed that the PLDC would allow “fast-track boondoggle projects that benefit the private developer and the pockets of the well-connected [while] stripping Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of trust lands.”…

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Renegotiating Oceanic’s Services

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

Molokai residents are frustrated with Oceanic Time Warner Cable, the island’s only provider of cable television (CATV) and broadband Internet services. Many claim that though they pay the same price as on other islands for Internet, they get only half the speed.

As part of the process to renew Oceanic’s franchise, possibly for the next 20 years, the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), who regulates CATV statewide, is gathering community input across the islands on Oceanic’s services as well as public access services provided by Akaku Maui Community Television.

“We want feedback on the level of service being provided by both Oceanic and Akaku,” said Donn Yabusaki, administrator of the DCCA’s CATV division.…

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Editorial: Mo`omomi Needs All of Us

Friday, August 31st, 2012

By Todd Yamashita, Molokai Dispatch Publisher

I can remember the days when my family got the key to visit Mo`omomi. Driving down the bumpy, dusty road watching the ocean shimmer in the distance, my anticipation would grow as we neared the shoreline. Although I was just a kid, I remember feeling really lucky. It was a privilege to be there and I was grateful.

Since then, Mo`omomi has seen many changes – the latest being the reintroduction of a gate which has made many upset. Gates can be controversial because they are meant to keep people out. But if you look deeper, past the gate, this is really an issue of conservation.…

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