Gathering Places
Gathering Places
Hawaii should lead world
in sustainable developmentThe world looked to the recent summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg, South Africa for a baptism of new international commitments to sustainability. They found a funeral instead, thanks to the Bush administration.
The world is desperate for sustainable solutions, and the opportunity to provide them from our island home is immeasurable. The issues on the agenda at the World Summit on Sustainable Development were identical to Hawaii's. From developing clean energy to balancing freshwater needs, to creating a sustainable economic base, Hawaii is a microcosm of the complexities and challenges the world faces. If we could demonstrate how to balance a diverse economy while sustaining our environment, we would have a product the globe begs for.
Take energy, for example. In Johannesburg, several countries proposed to launch a massive program to increase the share of new renewable energy sources globally to 10 percent by 2010. Why? For one, the world's obsession with oil makes it a dangerous place. The tension from extracting crude from unstable regimes combined with the tension from throwing the globe's climate into a tailspin are too terrifying to ignore. French President Jacques Chirac pleaded with the summiteers, "Our house is burning down and we are blind to it ... We cannot say that we did not know. "
We do know. The recent flooding in Europe, the West Nile virus, algae blooms, dying reefs, worldwide drought -- all portents of a world inhospitable to peace and prosperity.
Hawaii lawmakers had a nearly identical energy proposal last year: a bill requiring 10 percent of our energy to come from renewable sources by 2010 and 20 percent by 2020. A report conducted by GDS Associates, Inc. for the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism concluded that increasing the proportion of electricity produced by renewable energy to 10.5 percent by 2010 would save ratepayers $98.3 million from 2001 to 2020.
Why not just let the free market play out without mandates? The market is notably lethargic when long-term sustainability is the goal. Since 1992, annual greenhouse gas emissions from Hawaii's electric-power plants has grown 10 percent. A mandate would not only slow this trend, it would send a clear signal that Hawaii is serious about renewable energy, giving renewable-energy manufacturers more confidence in investing their products in Hawaii.
The most remarkable product of the Johannesburg summit was the degree to which other world leaders were willing to reject the Bush administration's misguided policy. America's largest trading partner, Canada, and its greatest ally, Great Britain, have announced their intention to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. U.S. businesses now risk being left behind as other nations invest in new, clean and efficient technologies. It would be a tragedy for Hawaii to miss this opportunity.
Energy is not the only issue on which Hawaii can demonstrate leadership. How we address our freshwater crunch is another. But instead of shutting the spigot to new, sprawling development on Oahu, the city is planning a $60 million oil-powered desalination facility that will produce water at 10 times its current cost. A sustainable model would balance our needs with what nature provides us for free. This means protecting our watersheds, reducing runoff in urbanized areas and saying no to new development when the water budget gets tight.
Also on the table at Johannesburg was biodiversity maintenance. How do we keep the ark afloat? Hawaii, with more than 300 species on the brink of extinction and four flowering plants disappearing in the past five years, is still trying to figure it out. Hawaii faces fragmented ecosystems, competing habitat uses and invasive species pressure -- the same variables in the global equation. Proper economic accounting would help determine priorities.
A recent study put the value of Hawaii's coral reefs at $10 billion; another put the value of ecosystem services provided by the forests of the Koolau Mountains on Oahu between $7 and $14 billion. And those figures ignore the potential miracle drugs, chemicals and biological processes that may have untold value -- if our native resources continue to exist.
Hawaii has the responsibility, environmentally and economically, and existentially, to develop sustainable solutions. A half-world away in Johannesburg, the world came up empty handed. Now it's Hawaii's turn.
Jeffrey Mikulina is director of the
Sierra Club's Hawaii chapter.