abundant green energy for Hawaii: source of resentment?
When Hawaii’s “Clean Energy Initiative” was announced 2 weeks ago, says Lawrence Downes, the rest of the country reacted thusly: 1) of course, and 2) what took it so long? (via ny times).
Says Downes, “it’s almost embarrassing how green things could be in blue Hawaii.”
Still, Hawaii has wasted decades complaining about its “oil addiction’, says Downes, and “doing next to nothing.”
Downes uses Jeff Mikulina‘s term, “inertiatives”, to describe “smart ideas that wither in Hawaii’s risk-averse climate.”
“While there has been no shortage of task forces and clean-energy start-ups over the years, not much has taken root”, notes Downes.
Why? “Enacting big change can be torturous in the islands”, says Downes.
Downes wonders if “a late-stirring sense of doom” might “jolt Hawaii into action”, noting the environmental demonstrators who were “going around the city marking a line in blue chalk on the ground, as countries were meeting in Honolulu last month to discuss global warming.”
The ‘blue line’ represented the inundation zone from a 1-meter rise in sea level, and clearly showed how “Waikiki and much of downtown Honolulu were on the wrong side of the line.”
Still, with a little push from government, Ted Liu (Gov Lingles development czar) believes “the state could easily leap over political shortsightedness into a greener age.”
If the objective is “to plunge into green technologies and to outpace the nation in moving beyond fossil fuels”, don’t count Hawaii out, says Downes.
“The islands are blessed, and have a long history of green innovation”, notes Downes.
Of course. So (wot he said) why’s it taking us so long?
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