TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/081390/0813330.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 5.9 KB | 129 lines

                                                                                ENVIRONMENT, Page 68

Hot Tempers in Hawaii


Exploiting clean geothermal energy could threaten a rain forest


    It sounds like an environmentalist's dream. On the Big
Island of Hawaii, the state government and several energy
companies hope to replace by 2007 much of Hawaii's imported
foreign oil with a supply of clean, natural and endlessly
renewable power. They plan to do this by tapping the geothermal
power contained in the molten rock that lies underground in the
volcano-studded land.

    However, environmentalists are anything but happy. Local
conservation groups, along with such national organizations as
the Rainforest Action Network, the Sierra Club and the Natural
Resources Defense Council, call the geothermal project unsafe
and unnecessary. Moreover, they argue, the drilling rigs, power
plants, transmission lines and roads in the plan will harm or
destroy tracts of the precious Wao Kele O Puna rain forest.
Even native Hawaiian religious groups oppose the scheme,
claiming that it will rob the volcano-dwelling goddess Pele of
body heat.

    The fight over geothermal energy has become one of the most
divisive issues in Hawaii's history, pitting scientist against
scientist and triggering demonstrations bigger than anything
the state has seen since the Vietnam War. Last week trials
began for 119 protesters hauled off in handcuffs in March for
trying to block the gates at the test drilling site in the Wao
Kele O Puna forest. Smaller-scale protests have been taking
place sporadically since then.

    The pro-geothermal camp has powerful arguments on its side.
Hawaii currently depends on foreign oil to generate 87% of its
electricity. Burning petroleum causes air pollution, and
bringing it in by tanker makes oil spills an ever present
danger. As an alternative energy source, geothermal generation
is a proven technology. It supplies about 5% of California's
electricity and provides power in two other states and about
20 foreign countries as well. Advocates admit that tapping the
earth's heat in this fashion will also bring up noxious
hydrogen sulfide and sulfur-dioxide gases, but they argue that
the Kilauea volcano, just a few miles away, spews out far more
of the very same gases.

    The plan's proponents point out that only 3.2 of the
forest's 10,930 hectares (eight of 27,000 acres) have been
bulldozed so far, in preparation for installing a 25-MW,
12-well plant (only one well has been drilled). Even the most
grandiose plan, which would generate 500 MW of electricity,
would require only 142 hectares (350 acres). And while that
would necessarily destroy some native plants and animals, at
least one team of scientists from the University of Hawaii has
concluded that Wao Kele O Puna has long since ceased to be
pristine. Invaded by pigs, cats, mongooses and exotic plants
brought to Hawaii in waves of immigration over hundreds of
years, the forest is considered inferior to adjacent areas as
an undisturbed natural biological laboratory.

    Besides, advocates say, although Hawaii is the fourth
smallest state, it ranks seventh in state-owned forest land,
with 364,370 hectares (900,000 acres). Another 109,320 hectares
(270,000 acres) are wildlife  refuges, and 11,740 hectares
(29,000 acres) are solely or jointly  managed by the Nature
Conservancy. "To suggest that the state of Hawaii is a villain
for recklessly demolishing its rain forests is insulting and
unfair," said Senator Daniel Inouye in June, while asking
Congress to appropriate $15 million for Hawaiian geothermal
research.

    Those opposed to the development contend that the state is
being, if not villainous, at least reckless. For one thing,
they argue, putting power plants close to an active volcano is
fool hardy. Another objection is that using the total area of
cleared forest land to measure environmental damage is
misleading. The roads that connect cleared areas are also
destructive, since they provide avenues along which species
from one area can invade another (plant seeds, for example, can
stick to vehicle tires). Wao Kele O Puna may not be the most
pristine forest in Hawaii, but just 10% of the state's original
lowland rain forest remains intact. The forest is still home
to animals, such as the Hawaiian hawk and the happy-face
spider, which are found only in the islands, as well as to
unique medicinal plants. Says Henry Auwae, a practitioner of
herbal medicine who traveled to Washington last year to share
his knowledge with the Smithsonian Institution: "Wao Kele
produces these plants with a quality and potency I have found
nowhere else."

    Environmentalists also worry about how the electricity would
get from the plant to Honolulu consumers, some 320 km (200
miles) away on the island of Oahu. Part of the plan calls for
an undersea cable 222 km (138 miles) long, traversing the
1,920-meter-deep (6,300 ft.) Alenuihaha Channel. That would be
the longest and deepest undersea electrical transmission line
in the world. No one knows whether such a cable could operate
reliably, nor whether its construction might harm the Cape
Kinau nature reserve on Maui.

    Finally, while they share the pro-geothermal group's
abhorrence of burning oil to produce electricity, those opposed
to the project believe that other technologies, including wind
and solar power, should be given higher priority than
geothermal. And by far the best way to reduce oil use, they
say, is through conservation.

    State officials respond that such measures are useful, but
not sufficient, and that geothermal energy deserves a fair
trial. Environmentalists can take heart, though, from the fact
that a final master plan for the project and an environmental
impact statement are not due until early 1992 -- leaving plenty
of time for more protests.


By Michael D. Lemonick. Reported by Jim Borg/Puna.