We are very supportive of many very serious grievances of the Hawaiian people, among them the terrible way our so-called criminal justice system, our educational system, our housing system and our health system has treated them and of the great and urgent need for reforms.
Because of this troubling history it is easy to understand why many Hawaiians oppose the building of a major telescope on their beloved and revered Mauna Kea.
We believe, however, that those seeking to stop the construction of the magnificent telescope are making an enormous and seriously tragic mistake.
We believe the planned telescope should be seen and recognized as the eyes of a great and revered mountain, eyes which could enable it and the world to see billions of years into the past, to the Big Bang and to the very distant beginning of our and every other solar system.
This will eventually bring to the entire world the ability to see, and perhaps to understand, how our and every other universe miraculously came to be.
It could become important in protecting mankind from major disasters from conditions now beyond our capacity to see or avert.
It will also bring to Mauna Kea the reverence of not just the Hawaiian people, but of all the people in the world who possess the capability of receiving the amazing views seen by the telescopic eyes of Mauna Kea.
The particular benefits for Hawaii and especially for Hawaiians are manifold. They include, foremost, the education of many Hawaiian students in the advanced study of astronomy and important related subjects and their professional lives connected to the telescope and its amazing functions.
In addition are the huge amounts of money spent in Hawaii and added to our economy and that of the Big Island for the building, use and maintenance of the telescope and for its continued and long-term use as the leading eye of the world in viewing and understanding the cosmos.
A considerable portion of that expenditure could go to supporting the professional careers of highly educated citizens, many of them Hawaiians, who will play major roles in the use and maintenance of the telescope. If properly managed, the new telescope and its international importance could trigger huge success for Big Island tourism, the income from which would stay here in Hawaii and benefit many of our citizens, Hawaiians included.
In contrast, killing the plans for the new and amazing telescope will produce serious and lasting negative impacts on Hawaii, the University of Hawaii and all of our people. Hawaii is already seen as a bad place to do business. Killing the telescope, particularly after years of receiving approval — even initially from one of the Hawaiian’s most important organizations, the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs — will tag Hawaii as a place for business and major educational efforts to avoid.
However the current sovereignty issues might be resolved, this will be an extraordinarily serious economic disaster for all the people of Hawaii with very serious consequences. In short, it will be a tragedy for us all.
