Support from Lanai

To the people of Molokai, our brothers and sisters. We were very excited to hear of your meeting with Pattern and Bio-Logical Capital. Copies of the event are showing up all over the island. If we don’t take care of the `aina, what will become of us? Thank you for your courage. The people of Lanai are with you!

We have limited land and a fragile environment. If we make the wrong decisions regarding our ecosystem, there is no recovery. Historically, industrial wind turbine complexes do not deliver as promised in the slick corporate brochures. They bankrupt countries with the burden of guaranteed loans, tax subsidies and higher utility costs. They kill jobs per studies coming out of Spain. If wind was a firm source of electricity, one might consider options regarding these structures. However, they are not. If they deliver even 12 percent of the capacity we would be lucky. This is so much less electricity than spending the same amount of money on solar voltaic, solar water heaters and installing small wind turbines on all tall buildings would produce. See the HEOC building on Lagoon Drive by the airport in Honolulu for small productive wind turbines.

Our tax dollars need to be directed to technology that works. Not only do these renewable energy projects cost less, but have little impact on the environment. If a unit fails, the grid is not affected. The money and jobs stay in Hawaii. Local businesses develop with the installation and maintenance of these local projects. Just look at the island of Nauru, smallest island in Micronesia, to see what happens when green wins out over the `aina. Nauru allowed corporations with promises of riches to mine the phosphate on the island. The phosphate ran out. The money has been spent and now they are left with environmental damage that may take thousands of years to restore. We cannot repeat that ecological disaster here.

Susan Osako
Lanai