on a sustainablility agenda for island government
One of the unheralded voter accomplishments on Tuesday was giving Kaua`i a majority of County Councilmembers who "get it" in terms of what sustainability means for this island.
Fact is, Kaua`i is the "greenest" island, and significant sustainability initiatives are already underway in our business and nonprofit groups.
Wouldn't it be something if our island government joined this mission?
Here's a short list of plausibly-doable "green" agenda items for our newly focused Council:
- Green Building- Kaua`i County could lead the way in implementing green building codes to ensure that all future development, and any re-building, utilizes the least harmful materials and the most planet-friendly designs.
- Green Towns- We could close the (still open) door on sprawl by defining town boundaries and encouraging less auto-centric, multi-use, medium density development in town centers.
- Green Bonds- We could enable communities to finance their own retrofit projects (such as a sewer system for Hanalei) by enabling local development corporations to float bonds for these purposes.
That would be a good start.
Certainly, our political leadership needs to be galvanized if we are to have any chance of motivating individual citizens and putting our island economy onto a more sustainable track.
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