TMT construction begins Monday 15 July

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Accusations and threats at the virtual public meeting Wednesday:

...opponents of TMT say questions were pre-screened, and comments on YouTube were disabled for the live video.
https://www.kitv.com/story/44918991/deba...-mauna-kea

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Could the TMT become a federally funded project, one half of a US Extremely Large Telescope?  If it does, I would think the dynamics of protests blocking construction of the TMT could change in a major way.  Should state and county law enforcement fail in opening the road, the feds could come in, make arrests and fly those charged to federal facilities then arraign them in federal courts.  And if found guilty, lock them up in federal prisons.  Time will tell:

American astronomers on Thursday called for the nation to invest in a new generation of “extremely large” multibillion-dollar telescopes that would be bigger than any now on Earth or orbiting in space.

The investment would entail bailing out and combining the efforts of two rival projects, the Giant Magellan Telescope and the Thirty Meter Telescope.
But astronomers have struggled for years to raise enough money to complete their dreams. In the new proposal, the National Science Foundation would provide $1.6 billion to finish both projects and then help run them as part of a new program called the United States Extremely Large Telescope.

Both telescopes are the dream products of sprawling international collaborations and two decades of raising funds and recruiting partners. Either telescope would be roughly three times as large as anything now on Earth and be 100 times more capable of discerning faint distant stars in the cosmos; working in concert, they could tackle deep questions about the cosmos. But neither project has raised enough money — more than $2 billion is necessary — to achieve its goals.

Failure to build these telescopes would cede leadership in ground-based astronomy to Europe, which is building a 39-meter telescope — the European Extremely Large Telescope — in Chile’s Atacama Desert — that is expected to start operating in 2027.
If the National Science Foundation were to invest in completing the two telescopes, it would gain significant observing time on them, which would be doled out to American astronomers.

“The two telescopes, being in opposite hemispheres and with radically different designs, would be perfectly suited for complementary interrogations of the cosmos,” Dr. Harrison said. “To imagine the U.S. would not have access to that is unthinkable.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/04/scien...scope.html

[kalakoa]

Using the standard 2.5 multiplier from HART, TMT will cost $3.5B. The current estimate is $2.64B, which means TMT is getting closer.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Membership has it's privileges.
But less so in the federal court system.

A woman charged in the January 6th uprising bragged before her trial that she was white and blond and would not go to jail.  She was from Texas, where that might be true.  She received a 60 day prison sentence in federal court.
In Hawaii a similar favoritism is played out in the police department, county and state courts.

Original TMT cost estimate: $1.4 billion
Current TMT cost estimate: $2.6 billion
Treating everyone equally (more or less) under federal law: Priceless

[TomK]

Using the standard 2.5 multiplier from HART, TMT will cost $3.5B. The current estimate is $2.64B, which means TMT is getting closer.

Hawaii politicians have no direct influence on TMT funding, so there's a big difference between HART and the TMT. There's no way they can raise taxes on everyone to help fund the TMT for example. On the other hand, they do have an indirect influence on the outcome of the TMT, and that's by not enforcing laws.

[kalakoa]

there's a big difference between HART and the TMT

Despite different funding sources, both projects are impacted by the ineptitude of Hawaii government.

they do have an indirect influence on the outcome of the TMT, and that's by not enforcing laws

Who pays for this legal liability? As with rail, Hawaii taxpayers, not TMT.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Update from Mauna Kea working group recommendations:
Panel recommends UH no longer manage any part of Maunakea
The Governing Entity would then work with the University of Hawaii — which currently manages the summit area of Maunakea — with the aim of a full transition of power within three years.

Nakashima said it is yet to be determined what would happen to the current observatories on Maunakea under this proposed structure, but the working group’s report states that the Governing Entity would “establish a plan to return the mauna above 9,200 feet elevation to its natural state.”
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Public comments on the report are being accepted until Jan. 4 and can be sent to maunakeaWG@capitol.hawaii.gov.
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Nakashima said the working group will reconvene in January to discuss public feedback.
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...-maunakea/

[TomK]

As HOTPE mentioned, public comments are still welcome and are supposed to be considered. You can do that by emailing maunakeaWG@capitol.hawaii.gov which is from

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/specialcommittee.aspx?comm=mkwg&year=2021

In my personal opinion, the working group is biased given its membership and I'm not at all hopeful public feedback will be given weight, but there is no harm in providing your own feedback.

[tawyna]

Before 1959 there was no road to the summit nor any structures upon the maunas .
what is TMT

[AaronM]

Ummm, nope.