HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0383.055 2018-2020 Murashige, Laura
From: Nelson Ho <nho.hoku@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday,July 24, 2019 7:00 AM 101,191 ILII 210, IN , `
To: Council Testimony; Council Testimony; David, Maile
Cc: Eoff, Karen; Lee Loy, Sue; Kanealii-Kleinfelder, Matt;Villegas, Rebecca
Subject: Testimony in Support for Resolution 233-19
Testimony in Support for Resolution 233-19
Encouraging State and County Executives to honor Sen. Kahele's
60 day TMT construction moratorium.
Aloha, my name is Nelson Ho. Since 1995, I have been speaking out against the land use mismanagement at
Mauna Kea.
Council Resolution 233-19 should be adopted, even after yesterday's events. But make no mistake, this is the
minimum this Council could do.
This resolution could have been about Urging the TMT Corporation to go to another location and allow this
County to heal itself after having state police forces arrest 38 nonviolent Kupuna, including their caregivers,
elderly Kumu Hula, Hawaiian scholars, and Protectors willing to be subjected to teargas for their beliefs.
Sen. Kahele's moratorium will afford the TMT Corporation and their supporters time to reflect on what their
ambitions and aspirations have done to this island society.
There should be increasing political pressure on TMT. They are making it much harder for the existing 13
astronomical facilities to do their work and have their astronomers and staff feel a valued part of our island
society.
The TMT corporation are not innocent victims of latecomer Hawaiian/environmental concerns as they would
have you believe. They have had at least 12 years warning that putting the TMT on top of Mauna Kea would be
divisive and a very contentious mistake. As early as 2007, leaders of the Protectors, and myself, met with TMT,
CalTech, and UC officials in the UHH Chancellors office to discuss their proposal. All they were interested in
was to see if they could buy us off by writing checks.
This Council should be considering a resolution to add your names to a change.org petition calling on the
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the nonprofit TMT partners to immediately halt construction of the
TMT. As of Monday night the petition has collected over 152,000 signatures." (see yesterday's Star
Advertiser's "Pressure grows on backers of Thirty Meter Telescope, and a group called Mauna Kea Education
and Awareness.)
This Council could be recognizing and concurring with a letter penned by astronomy students from Berkeley
and Caltech with over 140 signatures, and over 800 signatures from other students and staff at universities in the
U.S. and Canada, that are affiliated with TMT.
They said, "We ... question the methods by which we are getting the telescope on the mountain in the first
place.
We ask the (astronomy) community to consider whether the future of our field is worth the damage to our
^�G�
i Comm. No. ��
Ref. To:
Ref. Date
relationship with Kdnaka Maoli by continuing to criminalize Maunakea protectors on their ancestral land.
(littps:Hdocs.google.com/document/d/I YR8M4eboRjJSsfvVtmukb6dDgUonDBdmj9AU0hlr1cmY/edit).
Last week Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I was on the mountain. After the Kupuna arrests on
Wednesday, I spend Thursday sitting in the Kupuna tent, waiting for my chance to defend the mountain, the
Hawaiian culture and for the right to have a meaningful role in decision making for the future of Mauna Kea.
Please pass this resolution and add your Mana to Sen. Kahele's moratorium. Be part of the Solution,NOT part
of the Problem. Mahalo.
ElSe der notilied by
l Tt4ailtrack
2