Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Editorials
Saturday, December 30, 2000Presidential election
made 2000 memorableThe issue: The U.S. presidential election, particularly its bizarre aftermath, will make the history books as the leading event of 2000.
THIS year will be noted in the history books for the incredible, seemingly never-ending presidential election that took five weeks after Nov. 7 to be decided. And the way it was decided -- by what most interpreted as a highly partisan ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court -- left many Americans scratching their heads in bewilderment or charging that the Republicans stole the election.
That left George W. Bush as the president-elect with a credibility problem worse than almost all of his predecessors faced. Compounding his problem were the results of the congressional elections, which produced a 50-50 split in the Senate and a tiny GOP majority in the House.
The election fiasco shocked Americans into realizing that the voting system in Florida -- and undoubtedly in many other states -- is seriously flawed and must be fixed. But most were willing to give Bush a chance to prove himself as president despite his dubious credentials.
The year also saw the booming national economy, in the longest continuous period of prosperity in U.S. history, slow under the weight of higher interest rates initiated by the Federal Reserve.
But in Hawaii the direction was up at long last, as the economy shook off years of stagnation to stage a strong recovery. The state government saw tax revenues rise and began to reverse years of budget cuts.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued another historic decision in Rice vs. Cayetano, ruling unconstitutional the Hawaiians-only restriction for voting in elections of trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Repercussions from that February decision were felt for much of the year, culminating in the election of a new board that for the first time included a non-Hawaiian.
The Rice vs. Cayetano decision also prompted efforts to win passage by Congress of a bill that would permit Hawaiians to achieve a degree of autonomy. The bill died but will be reintroduced next year.
In foreign affairs the most significant event was the summit conference of the leaders of North and South Korea, Kim Jong-il and Kim Dae-jung, respectively. The meeting held out the hope of a new era of cooperation between the rival regimes and seemed to diminish the threat of war that has hung over the Korean Peninsula for half a century.
The new year -- which begins the new millennium, contrary to the hype a year ago -- promises greater prosperity for Hawaii and continued peace for much of the world. Happy 2001!
Hawaii had moderate
population growth
HAWAII gained 103,398 residents between April 1, 1990, and April 1, 2000, according to the Census Bureau. That works out to an increase of 9.3 percent -- fairly sizable, but still the smallest ever recorded here for a decade and below the 50 states' average.
To be precise, it was the 31st smallest state increase of the decade and moved Hawaii down a notch, population-wise, from 41st to 42nd. The state's population as of April 1 was officially 1,211,537, compared with 1,108,229 10 years earlier.
It's a bit surprising that Hawaii registered any population growth at all, considering the state's economic weakness for much of the decade. It was the most prolonged economic decline since statehood. Thousands of people lost their jobs and moved to the mainland. So did retirees seeking lower living costs. But those well-publicized losses were offset by a combination of an excess of births over deaths and in-migration -- from foreign countries, particularly Asian countries, and from the mainland.
The economy has turned around the last couple of years, and that probably has ended the exodus. Stronger population growth is likely in the next decade.
That won't be welcomed by a lot of islanders. It's sometimes considered a healthy sign to have a growing population. But more people implies more traffic congestion, more demand for jobs, housing and shopping centers, more water consumption, higher prices, more pressure on the schools, the beaches and other resources -- and a less enjoyable life for most.
If you're in business, more people mean more potential customers. If you want to preserve what's left of old Hawaii, you probably don't welcome the idea of more people.
Twenty to 30 years ago there was concern that Hawaii was growing too fast. Some people wanted to limit population growth to the environment's "carrying capacity" -- an interesting concept, but difficult to implement.
Except for a few dedicated environmentalists, the concern over unrestrained growth largely evaporated in the 1990s, replaced by complaints that the economy was stagnating and businesses were dying.
That is the dilemma. Economic growth creates jobs and attracts people, often at the expense of the environment and the quality of life. A no-growth economy may result in less damage to the environment but at the price of fewer jobs and more business failures.
Despite complaints, tourism is less destructive to the environment than many other industries, which makes continued growth of the visitor industry more tolerable. There are signs that another environmentally friendly industry, high tech, is beginning to catch on here and could be a source of many non-polluting jobs.
But a growing population unavoidably poses threats to the environment. The odds are that growth will accelerate in the coming decade, which indicates there will be a need for greater awareness of environmental problems.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, Acting Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editor
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
