STAR-ADVERTISER/ 2018
Generators and other heavy equipment at Puna Geothermal Venture on Hawaii island had shut down following a May 2018 volcanic eruption.
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I was pleased to see the headline, “Geothermal power expansion builds steam,” in Sunday’s paper. I have learned the business from working with global experts on the geothermal assets of two Maori trusts in Aotearoa. One power plant is online; another is in the feasibility and design stage. We can replicate that success here.
Yet the article recycles decades-old opposition talking points from 1990-91, with no acknowledgment of the case for community-centered geothermal development as articulated by the distinguished cultural practitioner kumu Cy Bridges. Just days earlier, Bridges penned a column making the case for stepping up the pace to meet Hawaii’s goal of 100% renewable energy on the neighbor islands by 2035 (“Think like Kalakaua: Tap geothermal,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, April Opens in a new tab9) Opens in a new tab. And yes, he says, Tutu Pele would approve. The visionary King Kalakaua would have done it had he had the technology of today. That alone should tell us it’s time to look forward, not backward.
Ryan Matsumoto
President, Waika Consulting, LLC
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