Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 9, 1 Kepakemapa 2011 — Dreams can be realized with wind-farm benefits [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Dreams can be realized with wind-farm benefits

By Alberta de Jetley Sheaves of dried grass lean seaward, blown flat by the relentless winds sweeping through the ahupua'a of Ka'ā, located on the western end of the island of Lāna'i. Rock formations stand tall against the wind, testimony to nature's relentless assault on the 'āina.

To airline passengers, the island appears lush as it slopes toward the sea, especially during the wet season when it blooms with new growth. It is then the 'āina is at its most beautiful and herds of mouHon sheep and axis deer are abundant. The game animals were introduced to the

island and have provided recreational hunting opportunities for generations of residents and other hunters. The annual revenue from the state hunting season contributes approximately $1 million to Lāna'i's economy. Ka'ā is the site of the proposed wind farmproject and although there may be wind turbines on it in the future, hunting and access to fishing ean be preserved. The land will still hloom when the rains eome and deer and sheep will still graze on its slopes. However, what if the earth excavated during the installation of the wind turbines was used to create berms to make protected areas from the wind where native plants ean flourish? What if a rubber-lined reservoir was built to store irrigation water and instead of rifles, Ka'ā heeame a preserve for archery hunters only? The proposed benefits for the term of the purchase power agreement of 20 years includes millions of dollars to be reinvested toward our future on Lāna'i. One percent of the wind farm's gross revenue, estimated to be more than $1 million, is to be directed to eeonomie

diversification, job creation and nonprofit organizations; plus $250,000 for preservation work on the Lāna'ihale watershed and $500,000 for capital improvements to the Lāna'i water system. In addition, Hawaiian Electric Co. is committing $50,000 annually to a Lāna'i community fund. HECO and Maui Electric Co. will also

provide $30,000 for at least two years for a communitybased campaign for an energyefficiency and conservation campaign. The wind project will create a number of well-paying jobs after it is constructed and the money that will llow through the community has the potential

to create hundreds of sustainable jobs that will extend into future generations. Our job will be to plan the use of these funds wisely. If the wind project ean create dreams, my dream is to build a re-education center on Lāna'i for Hawai'i's incarcerated low-risk prisoners, many of our own Hawaiian brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. The selfcontained center could provide them with an education, a ehanee to earn a GED or credits toward an associate degree, or to learn a vocational trade. They will have work opportunities in conservation and preservation jobs, and when they return to their own families, we will send them home ready to be contributing members of Hawai'i's communities, with priceless gifts that ean never be taken away: an education and pride in themselves. ■ Alberta de Jetley is the Publisher and Editor o/Lāna'i Today, afarmer, a Lāna'i Planning Commissioner, and is a Director ofthe Lāna 'i Animal Rescue Center.

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The Hawai'i Interisland Renewable Energy Program-Wind, known as Big Wind, proposes to create wind farms on Moloka'i and Lāna'i to supply 400 megawatts of electricity through an undersea eahle to O'ahu, where 70 percent of the state's population lives. The plan aims to support the state's Hawai'i Clean Energy Initiative renewable-energy portfolio standard of 40 percent by 2030. Here, two Native Hawaiians with ties to Lāna'i share their perspectives for or against the Lāna'i proposal.

de Jetley