India, Chile and even the Canary Islands want to look at the heavens, maybe even more than Mauna Kea does.
News reports this week say folks from the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope project have been poking around all three spots looking for a Plan B, if the University of Hawaii is unable to quickly secure the needed permits to build on Mauna Kea.
Somehow it is hard to imagine the astronomers to be players in high-stake poker, so it would be wise to assume that the TMT officials are not bluffing.
Since the Hawaii Supreme Court told the University of Hawaii to redo its application to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources for the TMT project, the state has been looking to find, but has not yet found, someone to run the hearings on the reapplication and work the application through the proceedings.
Meanwhile TMT said that while Mauna Kea is still the best site on Earth, it is not the only place to put the huge telescope, and if not Hawaii, someplace else will do just fine.
TMT officials said either we get a permit by Dec. 31, 2016, or we are gone.
This is a problem both today and tomorrow for the administration of Gov. David Ige.
First, Ige and “fast-acting” are not synonymous — ponderous, maybe, but nothing is done with the speed of light up on the state Capitol’s fifth floor.
So it is not surprising that no one has been appointed to work the TMT application.
Second, the longer TMT has to work Plan B and find another place to build the telescope, the more disheartened it will make Big Island residents, and unhappy voters don’t give incumbents the benefit of the doubt.
TMT is really important to the state but especially to Hawaii County.
“We will become a leader in astronomy. Hawaii is ideal for astronomy research,” said Barry Taniguchi, president and CEO of KTA Superstores, back in a 2010 Hawaii Business interview.
Taniguchi is widely considered to be the leader of the Big Island’s business community, but he is not the only one who wants the telescope.
Mary Begier, a Realtor who is active in the community supporting TMT, said losing the project “would be devastating.”
Another involved Big Island community leader, who asked not to be identified, said dropping the project “will continue to have serious economic, social and cultural ramifications for decades. Who in their right mind will invest in our island and state after this fiasco?”
Barbara Hastings, former official with the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, recalled that the Big Island business community came together solidly to support TMT.
“Big Island economy and economic image have a lot to do with astronomy,” Hastings said. “We have major telescope companies and universities from the world over with facilities and offices here. All that impacts our community and life. There is no question in my mind that if we don’t get TMT, Mauna Kea’s future in astronomy will diminish.”
Failing expectations, diminished returns and ruefully mentioning a fiasco are the sort of descriptions that don’t help the Ige administration today and could be a big issue in turning against his 2018 reelection efforts.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
