Musings: Deal With It

Within hours of Gov. Ige announcing he signed HB2501, which allows time to revamp the complex revocable water permit process, opponents posted a "shame on you" video.

Really? Is that the best they can come up with? More regressive shaming from the self-proclaimed progressives? Do they really think that's going to turn anything around?

All the while they're ignoring Ige's statement, which specifically acknowledges East Maui farmers, and the fact that this issue isn't just about their hated enemy, A&B. It's also about KIUC, HECO and the many small farmers around the state who are functioning on the admittedly flawed revocable permit process.

But in their desire to stick it to A&B, and make it all about them, they're prepared to screw over everyone else. And when they don't get their way, waaah.

What gets me is that these activist groups actively engage in the political process. They lobby, they rally constituents, they run candidates, they raise money.

If they win, it's a victory for democracy, the will of the people that must be upheld — even against those who have a legal right to bring a challenge.

But if they lose, the system is corrupt, the politicians are crooked, the bad guys have bought everybody off, the judges are in cahoots.

Sorry. But you just can't have it both ways. The system that gave them anti-GMO moratoriums  — and favorable court rulings on revocable water permits and the TMT — is the same system that produced HB2501. Grow up and deal with it.

It's a concept that seems to elude so many activists. I'm not sure whether they just don't understand how the process works, or if they're convinced that magical thinking will rule the day.

For example, following the federal Appeals Court hearing on the Hawaii anti-GMO/anti-pesticide bills, folks posted a petition on change.org whining about how Monsanto was “poisoning democracy” by challenging the Maui bill in court.

As if it's somehow “democracy theft” to use the court system — unless, of course, you're Earthjustice, SHAKA or Center for Food Safety. And never mind that small farmers joined the seed companies in seeking to overturn those laws on both Maui and Big Island.

But what really got me was this:

The ruling could take six to nine months. During this time, the justices and their law clerks will be gauging public awareness, and public sentiment, of these historic cases. We will be creating more awareness-building media and, with the help of supporters like you, expanding the reach of this petition.

WTF? Do they actually believe the judges will issue a ruling based on anything other than legal precedent? Have any of these folks ever read a judicial decision, which is filled with citations of case law?

But then, these groups earn their bread and butter from fear and hype. There's no money to be made while the court is quietly and earnestly deliberating. Bang those drums! Make people believe it's a popularity contest, not a legal process.

Speaking of popularity contests, I've received a troubling report from an attendee of the recent International Society for Reef Studies convention in Honolulu that Pew Charitable Trusts was using its booth to offer scientists drink coupons in exchange for signing a petition calling upon President Obama to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Hmmm. Hope it was at least brand name booze.

In closing, a Vermont company is seeking to help save some of the 3.7 billion birds that cats kill annually in the U.S. alone with "whimsically shaming" bright-colored scrunchies that make it tough for felines to sneak up on their prey.

Sadly, this approach won't save the endangered Hawaiian birds that are regularly munched by the tens of thousands of feral cats roaming the Islands. These birds nest in burrows, where they're unable to fly or escape their predators.

Indeed, just one cat is thought responsible for killing six of the rare Hawaiian petrels, which were nesting in a remote Na Pali Natural Area Reserve. As TGI reported:

Basil Scott of the Kauai Community Cat Project said he feels it’s “too bad this predation is occurring” and that these types of killings always bring up the conversation about the feral cat population on the island.

Yes, because we keep wondering why people like Basil advocate managed feral cat colonies, as if it's OK to allow thousands of cats to roam, and kill at will, just because they've been fixed.

Never underestimate the power of denial — especially if money and ideology are involved.