Oahu's sustainability can't withstand another four years of Mayor Mufi Hannemann. On nearly every key environmental concern - energy, recycling, land protection, clean water, safe streets - Hannemann's policies have been devastating. Let's look at three.

» Energy. Energy costs and dependency on petroleum are on top of everyone's minds. But despite talk of signing the “;Mayors Climate Protection Agreement,”; Hannemann has barely lifted a finger to achieve its goal of 7 percent reduction in greenhouse gas from 1990 levels by 2012: no inventory of current emissions, and no tangible plan to achieve the energy efficiency or clean energy usage to meet the target.

So what has he done? First, he fired the previous administration's expert in energy savings. Then he effectively cancelled an $8 million “;solar bond”; initiative that would have reduced the city's energy costs. The result? Annual city electricity usage surged by 8 million kilowatt hours since he took office, contributing an additional 16 million pounds of greenhouse gas into our atmosphere.

  » Recycling. Let's review how those “;blue bins”; came to be. First, Hannemann canceled the planned curbside recycling program in 2005. Then the City Council stepped in, passing a measure to slowly implement some form of mixed-recyclables recycling at the curbside. The Hannemann administration opposed this. The city Charter Commission then forwarded an amendment to compel the Department of Environmental Services to implement islandwide curbside recycling. The Hannemann administration repeatedly opposed this amendment. Fortunately, the amendment passed overwhelmingly with more than 153,000 voters supporting it. So finally the Hannemann administration was forced to begin curbside recycling - a task it began with all the haste of an opihi race. Bear this in mind when Hannemann boasts about bringing you curbside recycling.

  » Sewage. Yes, Hannemann inherited a decrepit old sewage system. He also inherited a consultant's report warning of a potential disaster at the Beach Walk force main. But instead of working with the Environmental Protection Agency and community groups (including the Sierra Club) who were seeking to remedy the sewage threat as quickly as possible, he worked with a $460-per-hour mainland attorney to fight the lawsuit with delay tactics. A 50-plus-million-gallon raw sewage spill into Waikiki waters spurred some action. But apparently it wasn't enough of a wake-up call - the administration continues to fight the community groups in court over a timeline for sewage improvements.

The EPA also decided that protection of Hawaii's ocean water demanded that the city's main sewage treatment facilities be upgraded to 21st-century standards. Hannemann fought the EPA, and he's now suing the EPA to force it to disclose who it talked to about its sewage improvement decision. If clean ocean water is important to you, think twice about another Hannemann term.

Other sustainability issues have suffered under Hannemann. He opposed the Charter amendment to make Honolulu bike- and pedestrian-friendly (and has done nothing to execute the new mandate). He initially supported a plan to develop Waimea Valley into private lots. He has supported development along Kahuku coastline and Turtle Bay. He has done little to transform Honolulu into a world-class sustainable city.

This is the only Oahu we have. Our environment and our future deserve better than Mufi Hannemann.