Protecting and Preserving Maui Nui’s Environment & Important Cultural Sites for Over 40 Years

GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms)

Hawai’i is ground zero for GMO experimentation.  The National Sierra Club has these policies:

CONCERNS WITH GMOS: WHAT IS THE SCIENCE?

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or genetically engineered (GE) foods have the potential to cause a variety of health problems. For example, they may produce new allergens and toxins, and spread harmful traits to non-GMO crops. In addition, at least one major environmental impact of genetic engineering has already reached critical proportions: overuse of herbicide-tolerant GE crops has spurred an increase in herbicide use and an epidemic of herbicide-resistant “superweeds,” which will lead to even more herbicide use. The long-term impacts of GMOs are unknown, and once released into the environment they cannot be recalled.

Read more

Utilities vs. rooftop solar: What the fight is about

(Photo courtesy Rising Sun Solar)

The conflict between electric utilities and distributed energy— mainly rooftop solar panels — is heating up.

David Roberts takes a look at the fight over utilities who don’t want to take more rooftop solar – a subject that is hot in Hawaii, where folks are being charged $3000 for “interconnection studies” and being denied the opportunity to install PV.

Read more

Fish Resources Gill Nets (Laynets) and Aquarium Collecting

Lay Nets

Problems Associated With Laynets

  • Overly efficient method causing a decline in fish
  • Indescriminant catch and kill of all species (sometimes only 1/15 of catch is usable)
  • Entanglement and killing of endangered turtles and ocean mammals
  • Breaking coral while retrieving net
  • Danger to swimmers and divers
  • Fish spoiled when left too long
  • Attract sharks to shoreline waters
  • Pieces of net tear off and endanger marine wildlife and boating
  • Enforcement of regulations difficult
    • Too few DLNR agents
    • Difficulty locating net owner
    • Time consuming to enforce time limits  

      Read more

Sierra Club – Working for YOU

HI-clean-energy-champions

The state of Hawaii has passed a first-of-its kind clean-energy financing measure that will make it easy for residents of the Aloha State to go green and install clean energy, while saving some green at the same time. The Sierra Club and a coalition of environmental and labor groups championed the measure, which will reduce the upfront costs of solar energy and energy-efficiency for residents and small businesses.

Read more

Nat’l Biodiesel Board’s Life Cycle Paper

In May of 1998, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the results of the Biodiesel Lifecycle Inventory Study. It compared findings for a comprehensive “cradle to grave” inventory of materials used; energy resources consumed; and air, water and solid waste emissions generated by petroleum diesel fuels and biodiesel in order to compare the total “lifecycle” costs and benefits of each of the fuels. This 3.5-year study followed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and private industry-approved protocols for conducting this type of research. Below is a summary of the study.

Read more