HomeMy WebLinkAboutP. Matlock 48 hours Testimony 05.31.23 From: Peter Matlock
To: LPCtestimonv;WPCtestimonv
Subject: Oppose: Shoreline Setback and SMA
Date: Wednesday, May 31,2023 2:54:49 PM
Aloha Members of the Leeward and Windward Planning Commissions,
Thank you for considering input on several important issues before you.
Please take your time to appropriately consider shoreline setbacks from a long-term
perspective. We have world experts on climate change-induced sea-level rise in the
Pacific within the UH system—contact them. Today's New York Times reports climate
change is making regions of the country uninhabitable, with skyrocketing insurance
costs or inability to purchase insurance at any cost
(https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/climate/climate-change-insurance-wildfires.
california.html). Our coastal regions are not exempt.
We need more beach/shoreline protection from sea-level rise and climate
change impacts, not less.
Archaeological remains need protection, especially in the rich Kona region. It is a
conceit to think that prior archaeological methods are still sufficient. We have new
tools, technologies, attitudes and an increasingly critical need to better understand
pre-contact Hawaiian society, agriculture, lifestyles, and culture. Lessons that can
now only be learned from intensive study of rapidly disappearing archaeological
remains are considered critical to understanding sustainable agriculture/societies in a
world of increasing climate change impacts.
We need more archaeological protection, not less.
Thank you for your consideration of these critical issues.
Peter Matlock
Kailua Kona, Hawaii