December 18, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii
Members of the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs held a special hearing on the campus of UH Hilo to learn more about the ongoing biomass development process.
A Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting in November in which lease negotiations were approved for only two companies, Hamakua Biomass Energy LLC and SunFuels Hawaii LLC, caught many off guard. This included ranchers who’s leased land could be effected, competing biomass companies who felt somewhat excluded from the process, and the general public who wondered why the meeting was held on Oahu and not the Big Island. Resulting media coverage and confusion led to Wednesday’s meeting in Hilo.
District 23 Senator Clayton Hee chaired the hearing, and was joined by District 1 Senator Dwight Takamine, District 2 Senator Russell Kokubun, and State Representative Mark Nakashima, in the intense questioning of members of the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. The senators attempted to get to the bottom of what they felt was a lack of transparency in the process, and wanted to find out why the state appeared to be working with only the two companies.
This series of videos presents portions of the hearing in Hilo, and may serve as an information source for a sometimes confusing set of events. Three “backstory” clips offers an account of the events leading up to the infamous November 14th BLNR meeting, as told by DLNR chairwoman Laura Thielen during the hearing. There are also clips of the back and forth between the senate committee and DLNR/DBEDT.
| VIDEO: First in?
Get
the Flash Player to see this player. Senator Clayton Hee questions DBEDT on how they selected the companies they are working with (December 18, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii) |
| VIDEO: No RFP?
Get
the Flash Player to see this player. Senator Dwight Takamine questions DBEDT on what he sees as a lack of transparancy in the process. (December 18, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii) |
| VIDEO: The backstory – part 1
Get
the Flash Player to see this player. DLNR chairwoman Laura Thielen details the start of the porcess: when Hamakua Biomass, and later SunFuels, approached DLNR in early fall, and the DBEDT was asked to step in to assist. (December 18, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii) |
| VIDEO: The backstory – part 2
Get
the Flash Player to see this player. DLNR chairwoman Laura Thielen discusses the initial land concerns with both projects, and then recounts the now infamous November 14th board meeting (December 18, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii) |
| VIDEO: The backstory – part 3
Get
the Flash Player to see this player. DLNR chairwoman Laura Thielen restates the mission of the state for meeting the renewable energy goals, and says that food and fuel can co-exist on the Hamakua Coast (December 18, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii) |
| VIDEO: Takamine’s inquiry
Get
the Flash Player to see this player. Dwight Takamine, the district 1 State Senator for the state of Hawaii, conducts an unyielding inquiry into the role of DLNR in the biomass process, and questions why the November 14th meeting was held on Oahu. (December 18, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii) |
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STORY SUMMARY
December 18, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii Members of the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs held a special hearing on the campus of UH Hilo to learn more about the ongoing biomass development process. A Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting in November in which lease negotiations were approved […]