11-24-2018, 05:44 AM
I have been remiss in not using the term environmental extremists. Virtually all of us are environmentalists to some extent; we don't want chemicals dumped into rivers and the ocean; don't want the air quality that China and India have. Or other undesirably impacts from reckless use of the environment.
But we will go with environmentalists; I think we all understand the meaning here.
Tom: "The idea that environmentalists are behind the TMT protests is so ridiculous that it really doesn't deserve any more comment. "
No, environmentalists are not "behind" the protests, but they seem to be equal participants.
Durian Fiend: "The white environmentalists gave permission for natives to take the initiative on contesting TMT- a likely scenario that is NOT."
Not suggesting that; native Hawaiians certainly do what they want. But we have quite the collaboration here. I wonder which of the two groups is mostly behind the funding of the court challenge. (I'll try to address the hypocrisy topic later.)
Interesting how often environmentalism is linked to other issues: sometimes the other groups use it as a pretext, sometimes environmentalists latch on to issues someone else has raised as an afterthought.
Examples: NIMBYs opposing projects near their homes. Officials closing natural areas for safety. Native peoples opposing projects on reservations. State permitting regs relating to revenue generation. Consultants who don't want shortcuts taken so they can do their expensive environmental reviews.
Example of the latter: Consultants need to study demo of Uncle Billys. Construction firms can handle hazmat; they could begin within a month or two, pending contract agreement. Now we have a 2 year delay and $1 million in costs for an environmental review.
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...velopment/
Cause: The National Environmental Policy Act, enacted in 1970. A Negative Declaration, which could have streamlined the process, is being disallowed here. That $1 million of taxpayer money could be used for far better things.
But we will go with environmentalists; I think we all understand the meaning here.
Tom: "The idea that environmentalists are behind the TMT protests is so ridiculous that it really doesn't deserve any more comment. "
No, environmentalists are not "behind" the protests, but they seem to be equal participants.
Durian Fiend: "The white environmentalists gave permission for natives to take the initiative on contesting TMT- a likely scenario that is NOT."
Not suggesting that; native Hawaiians certainly do what they want. But we have quite the collaboration here. I wonder which of the two groups is mostly behind the funding of the court challenge. (I'll try to address the hypocrisy topic later.)
Interesting how often environmentalism is linked to other issues: sometimes the other groups use it as a pretext, sometimes environmentalists latch on to issues someone else has raised as an afterthought.
Examples: NIMBYs opposing projects near their homes. Officials closing natural areas for safety. Native peoples opposing projects on reservations. State permitting regs relating to revenue generation. Consultants who don't want shortcuts taken so they can do their expensive environmental reviews.
Example of the latter: Consultants need to study demo of Uncle Billys. Construction firms can handle hazmat; they could begin within a month or two, pending contract agreement. Now we have a 2 year delay and $1 million in costs for an environmental review.
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...velopment/
Cause: The National Environmental Policy Act, enacted in 1970. A Negative Declaration, which could have streamlined the process, is being disallowed here. That $1 million of taxpayer money could be used for far better things.