Image courtesy of 101 Ways to Change the World along 101

By James Weatherford, PhD.

During discussion on Bill 193-10 at the Committee on Environmental Management, one Council member called it ‘bad science’ to claim that plastics were harmful in the environment. The member went on to say that plastics would decompose and be of no harm. This Council member is the one who is promoting bad science.

Following are quotes from a recent study concerning plastics in the environment, “Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife” by Emma L. Teuten, et al. in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society – Biological Sciences, October 10, 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

Road Painting III By Nancy Dwyer

By James Weatherford, Ph.D

Inevitably, when discussion turns to what to do to make life better in Puna, the Keaau-Pahoa Road is mentioned. Throughout the Puna Community Development Plan this road has been a point of concern. Rightly so. There is a general understanding within the community that the highway, also referred to as Kea`au–Pahoa Road, is the deadliest public road in the State of Hawai`i. It is for sure the only road in and the only road out.

First, to be perfectly clear: neither the Hawaii County Council nor any other part of Hawaii County government has any authority over the design of Highway 130 – it is a state road. Other than intersections of a few County roads and access to County-owned parcels fronting the highway, the prime responsibility Hawaii County government has along the Keaau-Pahoa Road is law enforcement.

Hawaii County Council Resolution 573-08, introduced by Council member Naeole-Beason, sought to garner cooperation between the State Department of Transportation and the County Department of Public Works; and, furthermore, to bring that cooperation to focus on the emergency situation at hand on Kea`au–Pahoa Road. Read the rest of this entry »