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I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the sky is falling.

I’m not the only one saying this. Although it’s obvious that exponential growth on a finite planet is not sustainable, we continue to grow exponentially.

We are increasingly warned of the very real problems by credible scientists, but we’re not doing much about it. We just keep drawing down the world’s resources — and we’re in more danger than most of us realize.

Especially here, on an island in the middle of the world’s largest ocean, where we sit at the end of the supply chain and rely on outside sources for 85% of our food.

The decline in fossil fuels is a major part of the problem. It impacts everything from the price of gum all the way up to the conflicts with Russia and China, which are simply fights about the resources and who gets to use them — who has the advantage.

There are solutions, but we need to move on them now. Not in a generation, when our children and grandchildren are already experiencing even worse economic problems and declining lifestyles because of it. Already, more of our youngsters leave the islands when they grow up than stay because they’re looking for work.

What are we waiting for?

We are very fortunate to have two amazing resources here on Hawaii island.

The first is geothermal. This island will sit above the “hot spot” that creates our geothermal resource for one to two million years. We should be using that geothermal energy as our primary energy source.

It costs less than half of any other renewable energy alternative to produce, provides stable power, and generates revenue for the state. It’s a no-brainer.

‘We Have The Resources’

Our second amazing resource? The stars above Mauna Kea. It’s not only the tallest mountain in the world when measured from the sea bottom, but it’s also known as the best place on the globe to view the stars.

Establishing this island as an epicenter of astronomical research and science — as opposed to a place for sun and surf tourism, which brought 1.7 million people to Hawaii island in 2019 to run all over our land — would benefit our children and future generations, not to mention our aina.

The stars are also a tremendous resource to bring together culture and science to help educate our keiki, teach them about science and pride, and give them a sense of their place in the world.

We propose creating Mauna Honua: Culture and Science Center Above the Clouds, not at the summit but on land identified at the Hale Pōhaku level.

Large enough for meaningful work, this substantial, thoughtfully designed center would allow present and future Hawaiians to research and practice cultural preservation, education, language, science and ecology. There would finally be a place on the mountain where Hawaiians are represented and where we can rebrand our island as a place of top-level science and quality.

Hawaiians have always been scientists. In pre-Western times, Hawaiians matched resources with their needs, and they did so with guardrails set up, so it worked. I remember when I heard Haunani Kay-Trask say Hawaiians operated with a gift economy — the more you gave, the more you received. Hawaiians developed a system of reciprocity where they took care of their resources and then matched them with needs.

We need to meet our needs, and we need to start doing that right now.

That was back before the market economy kicked in. But even in a market economy you need to balance your resources and needs.

We have the resources: geothermal and the stars above Mauna Kea.

We need to meet our needs, and we need to start doing that right now. We really can’t wait any longer.

As the great-great-great-grandson of Kamahele Nui, one of many who signed the 1897 Kū‘ē petition protesting the U.S. annexation of Hawaii, I say we need to start now to use these resources smartly and efficiently. Not only for our own benefit, but also so our grandchildren and their grandchildren — something I talk about more in — can live their lives here on Hawaii island, as our ancestors did, and thrive.