Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, July 14, 2013

OVER 2,000 PEOPLE took in Hawaiian culture yesterday at the 33rd Annual Cultural Festival at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The theme stressed the learning of the child, and cultural practitioners shared their mana`o – knowledge – with keiki and adults. `Ukulele playing, feather lei making, lauhala weaving, beating kapa, quilting and making hula instruments, hats, baskets, bracelets, bamboo stamps and cloth, using plants for medicine and creating a native garden were among the skills that were taught during the day. Keiki o Halau o Kekuhi, Halau Ulumamo o Hilo Paliku and Hua Halau Ke `Olu Makani o Mauna Loa presented hula and chant. Diana Aki, Ben Ka`ili, and Leabert Lindsey offered song. Children learned to make and play the nose flute.

      County Prosecutor Mitch Roth told Burnett that “we’ve had problems with people illegally hunting on private property, not just pigs, but shooting cows.”

      Hunting on private property requires permission from the landowner, and night hunting is prohibited. Hunters must be licensed and abide by laws governing transportation of  firearms.
      Roth said that trespassing with a loaded firearm is a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, in addition to a misdemeanor trespass charge.
      “These guys who are illegally hunting give a bad name to the guys who are actually doing it legally,” Roth told Burnett. “We have a lot of really conscientious hunters on our island who are concerned about preserving the sport and subsistence hunters who are conscious of the environment. It really looks bad when these other guys are out there breaking the law. It gives all hunters a black eye.”
      According to the story, Burian said, “Just like with any other crimes, we may not be able to find any leads, but there are going to be times that we catch somebody. “And more often than not, it’s going to be the same people who are responsible for many of these incidents.”

      See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.

COUNTY OF HAWAI`I HAS SUBMITTED QUESTIONS regarding Hawaiian Electric Co.’s testimony on the proposed contract to purchase biofuel from `Aina Koa Pono. AKP plans to use feedstock from Ka`u to refine biofuel at a facility it would build along Wood Valley Road above Pahala. 

      Hawai`i County questions Hawai`i Electric Light Co. president Jay Ignacio about his statement that “HELCO’s use of the biodiesel will reduce carbon dioxide emissions on the island of Hawai`i, as AKP is contractually required to demonstrate that its project achieves at least a 50 percent favorable reduction in greenhouse gases over the petroleum diesel currently used by HELCO.”
      “Do you believe that AKP biodiesel will result in no less than a 50 percent reduction in GHG emissions when production of all inputs and all other processes related to biofuel production and deliveries are accounted?
      “If so, would you please provide the complete analysis based on actual AKP process, relevant feedstocks, and all input materials?

      “If you cannot provide this complete analysis of the actual AKP process, then would you please justify why a twenty-year commitment is being requested, when the ability to deliver on the project’s main promises is in question?”
      Hawai`i County questions HECO fuels department manager Cecily Barnes about her statement that “a successful AKP Project is expected to attract additional high-tech investment in the advanced biofuel industry.”
      “An underlying argument behind the proposed AKP contract is that the fixed, high-priced, long-term contract is necessary to attract investors,” the county states. “However, there are multiple incentive programs offered by the federal government, and many other companies have raised funds to demonstrate their technology at pilot/demonstration scale, and then use those demonstrations to fund commercial plants –without requiring such a lucrative off-take agreement. With utility rates that are three to four times as high on average as on the mainland (and, based on the current utility business model, possibly going to an even higher-multiple), could you please explain why yet further price increases to the consumer are justified to ‘attract additional high-tech investment in the advanced biofuel industry.’”
      Regarding Barnes’ statement that “it is expected that the AKP Project will generate direct and indirect jobs, stimulate economic output, and generate tax revenues that are quantifiable,” Hawai`i County says, “This may be true, as any project where higher-priced goods are imposed on customers by government fiat (as is the case with a regulated utility) will in fact ensure that at least some jobs are created and sustained. What is left unsaid in such cases, however, is that consumers are then denied choice (unless they opt out entirely from the system, which many seem to be doing or now seriously considering), and many other sectors of personal preference and economic activity are curtailed.
      “Would you please provide an estimate of how many jobs … AKP will generate, compared to how many jobs would be generated across the Islands and across other economic sectors if electricity rates were reduced by 25 percent, 50 percent, or if we were to work together to reach a mainland equivalent pricing of a 75 percent reduction?”
      This and more testimony is available at puc.hawaii.gov. Docket number is 2012-0185.
      Responses from the utilities are due Friday, Aug. 2.