I stood proudly with my people Thursday night, the people of Kaua`i, and yelled “Liar!” at my Republican Governor, and her minions, for over 3 hours. What a great feeling! She stood at the podium and smiled as she let the crowd blast her, calmly telling us that the state is shoving a business down our throats at the point of a gun, and that we’ll like it or they’ll arrest us. Not just any business, but one that will likely cause environmental disaster, kill whales, and cause social upheaval in most of the state. And that if we allow our children to protest this invasion, and exercise their own constitutional right to free speech, the government will not only arrest them, but will take our children awayfrom us and charge us with child abuse.
I really don’t have time to write during the school year, but because this issue (though local for me) is so representative of the way our Republican government works now, I wanted to share what’s been happening here on Kaua`i with the DKos community. I came home last night from the most inspiring display of community passion, and activism, in the face of corporate arrogance and government militarism, that I have ever witnessed ... but I don’t know if it will do any good. We are seeing firsthand, here on Kaua`i, what must be happening in other rural places that have some exploitable resource.
The Hawaiian Islands, long isolated from any outside influence, are home to more unique and endangered species than anywhere else on earth. This is the calving place for the humpback whale, and the habitat of the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal. We are the only home to the maile (the fragrant small green leaves that are traditionally worn as a wedding lei). We cherish wild species like the Nene goose (evolved over thousands of years from some lost pair of Canada geese who were somehow blown by storms to the islands), the unique happy-face" spider, and the o`opu - a small fish that can climb waterfalls.
All of these species, and many more, are threatened or endangered. In fact, to what should be America’s lasting shame, ever since theillegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy just over 100 years ago, Hawai`i has earned a notorious name as one of the top "extinction hotspots" of the planet.
It is a state unlike any other, as well, because each island has its own unique species or varieties, having evolved differently on different islands through what biologists call “genetic drift.”The culture of each island is a little different too. Kaua`i has always been very rural, very lush, and relatively unspoiled. It is also intensely cultural and spiritual. We who live here know, and cherish, the fact that we truly live in paradise – but in recent years, we have faced all the problems that our burgeoning overdevelopment have placed on our straining infrastructure, and on our way of life. Most people here work two or three jobs just to survive, but we do take time to enjoy the beauty around us, beauty that has been preserved because it was hard to reach. All of that just changed.
A couple of years ago, a group of enterprising local businessmen in Hawai`i (some of whom are descended from missionary/business families) were joined by a famous venture capital company (that by the way, funds big military operations), and together they floated (pun intended) an idea for a Hawai`i inter-island ferry.
The idea had been tried before, back in the ‘70s (with a smaller hydrofoil that broke down quite often), and had failed. However, this type of ferry was new. This huge, (4 story tall) catamaran could cut through the seas at 37 knots (about 43 mph), making inter-island travel, with a car, about 2 hours. The Federal and State of Hawaii each government put in big bucks to make harbor improvements (i.e. install Superferry dock improvements to offload 270 cars and 850 people twice a day.). Our Republican Governor Linda Lingle, who just hosted George Bush last week for lunch at Hickam Airforce Base (when Bush stopped over on his way back from Australia and his “surprise visit” to Anbar Province), enthusiastically pushed for the Superferry project, and promised them that the state would waive the requirement of and Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement. The corporation began building its boats. The company began running commercials on all the local radio stations, telling us all how easy it was going to be now to “visit Auntie,” or just “go holo holo” (drive around) on other islands.
As soon as the ferry project was proposed, residents, community organizations, and environmental groups rightly raised the alarm. Environmental groups were joined by surfers, canoe paddlers, fishermen, hunters, native Hawaiians, and citizens from all walks of life, in calling for an Environmental Impact Statement. A petition against the Superferry was circulated (it called for a moratorium on launching the ferry until an EIS was conducted). The petition quickly gained more than 6,000 signatures – that’s 10% of the population of Kaua`i. A few people I knew thought it would be a great idea, but most were vehemently opposed to the influx of cars and people (about 300 cars), and hidden invasive species, drugs, etc. A group of seven people went to deliver the petition to the Governor. Lingle refused to see them. (it has since come out that the State told the Superferry company that they didn’t have to do an EIS – contrary to a state law that requires that an EIS be done whenever State funds are used for development (in this case, of the harbors). The company went ahead and got ready to launch.
We here on Kaua`i, the “Garden Island,” have seen what has happened on other islands (like O`ahu and Maui) where uncontrolled growth, and importation of alien species, has caused the extinction of fragile native Hawaiian plants, animals, and insects. One example of an invasive species is the mongoose, imported from India to control rats in the islands during the 1800s. Like many invasives, the mongoose caused environmental disaster. On all the islands except Kaua`i, short-sighted planning allowed the mongoose, a diurnal (daylight) hunter, to proliferate – not on a diet of its intended prey of rats – because rats are nocturnal (night) animals. Instead, the mongoose population thrived by eating the eggs of native Hawaiian birds. Most native Hawaiian bird species are now extinct, on every island - except Kaua`i. The story goes that King Kaumuali`i, the king of Kaua`i, came aboard the sailing ship to examine the gift he had received – a pair of breeding mongoose. According to the story, the king reached into one of the cages and was bitten hard by the mongoose … whereupon he hurled both cages into the sea. True story? I don’t know, but luckily for Hawaii’s endemic birds, Kaua`i had no mongoose – until now.
But that’s not the worst. The high speed of the Superferry, combined with its sharp-edged twin hulls, are potentially ( and have been ) dangerous to the humpback whales who migrate here to give birth. Mother humpbacks rest with their babies just below the surface, about 6 ft. down. There is no way they could avoid the twin hulls. At first, the Superferry had a plan to use sonar to detect whales, but the plan had to be abandoned because the sonar level necessary would exceed legally permitted harassment levels. The company’s latest plan is to post a lookout with binoculars … but that would not help. Adult male whales can only swim at about 15 knots – too slow to avoid the twin hulls cutting through the water at high speed (warning - powerful but graphic video).
The ferry was nearly ready to begin service, when the Hawaii State Supreme Court ruled, in August, that the State should have conducted the EIS. This was just a few days before the ferry was scheduled to begin service. Then the ferry suddenly moved up its launch date, and sailed for Kaua`i on a Sunday evening three weeks ago.. About 60 people went into the water at Nawiliwili Harbor that night, on canoes, surfboards, and just swimming. They blocked the Superferry from coming into the harbor mouth for about 3 hours, until many swimmers, including teenagers and children as young as 12, were pulled from the water by the Coast Guard and arrested. The Coast Guard threatened to gaff some of the swimmers. Other protesters blocked the exit, and yelled at passengers as they drove off the ferry. The situation was ugly. The children’s parents have been threatened by Child and Protective Services with taking their children away, and charging them with child endangerment.
The second night, 300 people went into the water, and blocked the harbor entrance for long enough that the Superferry eventually turned around and went back to O`ahu. They have not run since then, and meanwhile a Maui judge granted a preliminary injunction to ban the ferry from operating at Kahului Harbor while he decides whether to allow it to operate while the EIS is being done (a process that can take up to 2 years, and may cause the Superferry to go out of business). The Kaua`i judge declined to issue a restraining order. The Superferry plans to return to Kaua`i September 26, and Thursday Governor Lingle, along with a Coast Guard Admiral and a Captain, the state assistant Attorney General, Kaua`i Mayor Bryan Baptiste, and our new Chief of Police, sat at a long table on the stage of our Kaua`i War Memorial Convention Hall and delivered their ultimatum to about 1,100 outraged Kaua`i residents. The angry crowd waved ti leaves and signs, and two microphones stood at the head of long lines of people waiting to speak. Every speaker was greeted with standing ovations, chants, and shouts from the crowd. Each lie and threat from the officials was met with loud boos. Lingle listened, but kept repeating that the ferry would run on Sept. 26, and that there would be a “security zone” around it that would include the whole harbor. Anyone in the water would be arrested and charged with a federal offense.
I am exhilarated, and afraid, for my island and people. Some asked how the governor would feel if someone were hurt in the water. Others asked how much the Superferry corporation had contributed to her campaign (the answer: $25,000). Two people spoke in favor of the ferry, and everyone else condemned it - some eloquently, others making their strong stances clear. One local braddah shouted into the mic that when the first dead whale washed up on shore, he would drag it to Mayor Brian Baptiste’s office with his truck (the crowd went wild at this, and Mayor Baptise visibly blanched).
Many were concerned about drugs, the homeless, and just crowds of huge trucks coming to camp on our small beaches (many of which have no lifeguards or restrooms). that can’t handle the number of residents and tourists who use (when the ferry ran for two days before the court shut them down on Maui, many cars were stranded – and among them, two trucks were found full of imu (ground oven) rocks stolen from a Maui national park. This is serious business to Hawaiians, who believe sincerely in our State motto: “Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono – the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness” Many worry about the loss of natural resources, of the traditional native fishing and gathering spots that their families have used for generations.
Not all politicians in Hawaii are in the Superferry's pocket. Former Mayor Jo Ann Yukimura was one of the first speakers Thursday, and challenged the legality of the Governor's move. State Rep. Mina Morita has called for a halt of Superferry operations while the EIS is conducted, and filed an informal complaint with the Public Utilities Commission. The PUC rejected her complaint, and she is considering a formal complaint.
A Big Island attorney, appropriately named Larry Sinkin, filed suit Friday in Federal Court, seeking to block the Coast Guard from enforcing the security zone. He claims the Coast Guard acted improperly when it made the emergency rule creating an expanded security zone, and that the goverment is setting up for a major confrontation, in which citizens may be injured or killed to make way for a business.
Sinkin, who also has filed a petition against the security zone with the Coast Guard, brought the suit on behalf of 22 people, including some of the protesters who went into the harbor last month to stop the ferry.
Sinkin is questioning whether the emergency rule is valid because the effective dates — Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 — are listed in the preamble of the rule's publication in the Federal Register but not in the rule itself.
Sinkin also believes the Coast Guard is improperly applying emergency powers intended to protect harbors from terrorism or sabotage to protesters using their First Amendment rights.
"They've used it, basically, to suppress free speech — suppress First Amendment rights — and make it possible for a business to make a profit," Sinkin said at a news conference outside the federal court. "I don't think that regulation was intended for either one of those purposes."
Thursday night, when the Admiral said that the top priority of the Coast Guard was safety, I stood with about 300 other people and shouted “Liar!” We know that it’s really all about business, and all about greed. So what if the law says an EIS must be done? They just want the money, and they’re willing to force this business down our throats at the point of a gun. An EIS can take about 2 years to complete. If the ferry runs all that time, what damage will be done by the time the EIS determines that the ferry is harmful?
This issue will get bigger, and more ugly, if the governor allows the Superferry to run on September 26. If you love Hawaii’s natural beauty and it people, won’t you join me andcontact Governor Lingle to demand that she declare a moratorium on the Superferry until after an EIS is completed? This attack upon paradise, its creatures, its people and our way of life must be stopped!