Friday, November 12, 2010

Musings: Not Rational

It was quite telling that, according to The Garden Island, neither the County nor KIUC sent a representative to Wednesday night’s for the Newell’s shearwater habitat conservation plan — a plan the state is developing because the county and KIUC, among others, have been so slow in developing their own. It’s the plan that will allow KIUC, the county and others to kill or injure `A`o in the course of their operations, so you’d think they would show face to support it.

Correction: I just talked to two people who were at the meeting and KIUC did indeed have two staff members and two Board members at the meeting.

And Beth Tokioka tells me that there were two HCP scoping meetings on Wednesday. At the first meeting, the county's Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation, Kylan Dela Cruz, was in attendance. At the second, Ken Teshima, Department of Public Works, Andrea Suzuki, Deputy County Attorney, and representatives from the county's consulting firm, Plan Solutions, were present.

Once again, I'm reminded that I cannot trust TGI's reporting. What's weird is that TGI just went and deleted all those inaccurate references from the article posted on-line...


Anyway, for more than a decade private businesses and the county haven't really stepped up to the plate in regard to mitigating threats to the A`o, reflecting an indifference that has contributed to the rapid decline of yet another one of Hawaii’s native bird species.

I outline it quite clearly in this week’s Honolulu Weekly cover story, “Fatal Attraction.” I did cringe a little at the subhead — “In birds vs. sports, did the state drop the ball?” — because in that particular conflict, it’s clearly the county that dropped the ball.

Still, I wasn’t trying to pin blame on anyone with that story. I just wanted to make it clear that, as Earthjustice attorney David Henkin pointed out, “Blaming the birds is not rational.”

But then, so much of what we do as a species isn’t.

Which is why we’re spending trillions on war and allowing a species that has been around for millions of years — a species that has long played a critical role in the ecological health of the native forests that comprise our watershed — to edge uncomfortably close to the brink of extinction.

Over and over, as a species, we choose death and destruction over life and creation.

And if that's not irrational, I don't know what is.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree Joan especially w/ the indifference of the County and KIUC. WTF...when as an island community did we become so cut off from the natural environment that so magnificently surrounds us? How did we become so disconnected from the land and sea that sustains us and all native plants and animals? 'A'o is such a beautiful bird how can we be so callous about its demise? Bernard and Lenny need to be held accountable for their inaction.

Anonymous said...

Right on, Joan! These bird killings at the Stadium at night due to the lights have been going on for years! I remember 30 years ago when I was a kid that these birds were being blinded by the light. Nothing has changed. It's time that the county, state, and KIUC do something! I'm for the birds!

Anonymous said...

If one smacks into your window at night and kills itself, do you get a $25,000 fine?

From the paper, it sounds like everyone at the meeting was saying, this is crazy. Give us a break, fascist government bureaucrats!

Anonymous said...

If a county employee was there would you be complaining that you (taxpayer) are paying for their overtime?

And the answer is yes, you would be complaining about that.

Anonymous said...

Beth Tokioka said on: November 12, 2010, 11:28 am (The Garden Island Online Comments)

For the record, the County of Kauai had five representatives at this meeting: Deputy County Attorney Andrea Suzuki, Department of Public Works representative Ken Teshima, and three representatives of our consulting firm Plan Solutions. It is my understanding that KIUC also had five representatives there. So nearly half of the attendees were from the two entities that the headline says were not present. We hope that a correction from TGI is forthcoming.

Beth Tokioka, Executive Assistant, County of Kauai

Anonymous said...

The Garden Island newspaper should be boycotted. Can you believe that they wrote an article with a headline that was an outright lie? Terrible journalism. Honolulu StarAdvertiser is my daily read.

Anonymous said...

"We hope that a correction from TGI is forthcoming. "

good luck with that!

Anonymous said...

oh so there were 5 of the 25 represented KIUC/County- poor GI reporter hasn't been given the who's who of Kauai.

So the taxpayers are paying for a consultant to attend the meetings fly in from Oahu? A county employee over time would be cheaper.

Anonymous said...

great article on the A'o... tragic incompetence from Bernard as both head of parks and rec and Mayor, it was his lack of leadership that led to the friday night football closure and the drop of population and the negativity to the birds... what's up with that ? Joan, did the county offer any reason or excuse?

Anonymous said...

Don't blame Bernard. There's been a lot of studies done on the impact of football related brain injuries and impaired mental capacity.

Anonymous said...

Hi Joan. I'd love to see you report on the story of why Becky Rhoades left the Humane Society. The Garden Island never even touched on it. Thank you.

Dave Smith said...

From a journalism standpoint, it is very distressing to see a newspaper correcting errors in its online content without noting that was done.

I think many would consider that small-minded and unprofessional conduct, and damaging to its long-term credibility. If it cares.