Every day I check the letters, hoping to see some action on resolving the impasse about the Thirty Meter Telescope. Given that the TMT has had to jump through hoops for 10 years to get permission to build, the state must act to uphold the rule of law in our Hawaii and ensure that the project is allowed to proceed.

The protesters should abandon their blanket denial of the project’s legitimacy and work with the organizations attempting to craft a compromise. There are offers of a cultural center and an accelerated timeline for decommissioning five existing telescopes. Given the Hawaiian traditions of astronomy and support of rulers of the kingdom, I believe the protesters picked the wrong issue to be the basis of their protest.

The protests could result in a win-win situation. If the state simply acts to allow the construction to proceed, that opportunity could be lost.

Oh, by the way, I hope that cultural practitioners won’t be using vehicles and roads to access the summit for their practices.

Jack Arnest

Wilhelmina Rise

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