Hawaii island residents continue to show strong support for the Thirty Meter Telescope, according to a public opinion poll commissioned by the nonprofit that aims to build and run the $1.4 billion project atop Mauna Kea.
The poll, conducted in July by Honolulu pollster Ward Research Inc. indicates that 60 percent of Big Island residents support moving forward with construction of the TMT project, with 31 percent opposed.
In a poll TMT commissioned in October, 59 percent of Big Island residents said they favored TMT construction, while 39 percent were opposed.
TMT Executive Director Ed Stone said in a news release that the latest poll results demonstrate that opposition to TMT on Hawaii island is declining.
“That’s significant,” he said, “and we are most grateful that the community’s support of the project remains high.”
At the same time, however, the poll found that support for TMT’s construction remains about even among Hawaiians on the island, with 46 percent supporting and
45 percent opposed.
In the October poll, 49 percent of Hawaiians statewide opposed the project, while 44 percent supported it.
The new poll surveyed 404 Hawaii island residents at least 18 years old via both cellphone and landline in an effort to match the demographics of the Big Island based on census data. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percent.
Other key results of the poll:
>> 89 percent agree there should be a way for science and Hawaiian culture to coexist on Mauna Kea.
>> 76 percent agree that TMT will help create good-paying jobs and economic and educational benefits for those living on the island.
>> 70 percent agree that failure to move forward with TMT will hurt educational opportunities for the island’s children with the termination of TMT’s annual $1 million contribution to the THINK Fund (providing funds for science, technology, engineering and math education) and workforce pipeline program.
>> 69 percent agree that TMT has followed a lengthy approval process, so work should proceed.
>> 66 percent agree that failure to move forward with TMT after following all regulations would hurt Hawaii’s reputation as a place to do business.
Mauna Kea astronomer Thayne Currie of the group Yes2TMT said the poll’s results are not surprising.
“Over the last few months, we have seen increased and more vocal support for TMT on the Big Island. We’ve seen it from talks with our neighbors in Hilo, from PUEO (the Native Hawaiian group known as Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities Inc.),” he said.
“The message is clear: The people of Hawaii want TMT. And it’s time to stand up for this amazing opportunity for Hawaii’s future,” he said.
But Kealoha Pisciotta, leader of the Mauna Kea Hui petitioners, said she doubts the validity of the poll.
“Polls are inherently manipulative, and everyone knows that,” she said.
In any case, Pisciotta said the TMT clash is not a popularity contest but a question of law to be determined in court.
In their suit, the Mauna Kea Hui petitioners argue that the TMT will destroy a landscape used by Native Hawaiians to practice their culture and religion, as well as damage the environment and impact water resources.
What’s more, the petitioners contend the telescope fails to meet the state’s criteria for development in the conservation district, including a requirement that a project enhance open space or the natural beauty of the land.
The TMT project is currently on hold while the state stages a new contested case hearing. The state Supreme Court ordered the new hearing in December when it invalidated the project’s conservation district use permit, saying the state Board of Land and Natural Resources erred in approving the permit prior to holding the original contested case hearing in 2011.
TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said that while October’s poll was conducted statewide, TMT officials felt it was important to understand how Big Island residents feel about the project.
“We are pleased with the results,” he said.
While Mauna Kea remains the preferred choice for the telescope, TMT officials continue to evaluate alternative sites in case the Hawaii option falls through. Other sites under study include Baja California in Mexico, the Canary Islands, Chile, India and China, Ishikawa said.
The project aims to be under construction by April 2018.
In the latest Hawaii Poll commissioned in late June by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, also conducted by Ward Research, three-quarters of Oahu’s likely primary voters said they support construction of the TMT, while most of the island’s Native Hawaiians said they also back construction.
