If the protests against the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea were to succeed, more than a project would be affected.

The TMT is the bellwether for the role of science in our state’s future. Science, along with the projects and programs it depends on, are the intellectual infrastructure that will expand opportunities for our children and underwrite a new, sustainable economic model.

Hawaii will never reach its potential if we are guided by the view that science is a threat. I believe the majority in our state believe Hawaii can become a leader in science, technology and renewable energy — an area where we just became the first state to commit to a 100 percent renewable future.

We can already begin making a legitimate leadership claim in science as well, thanks to the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, one of the world’s great astronomical research centers, and the telescopes it manages on Mauna Kea.

A wide range of benefits flows to Hawaii’s education system and economy from the observatories on Mauna Kea. Today, astronomy’s annual economic impact on Hawaii County, alone, is more than $90 million.

Tax revenue from the observatories helps pay for state and county projects and programs, including education, the most important beneficiary.

The funds generated by the observatories and the presence of leading scientists, drawn to Hawaii as an astronomy leader, creates a reservoir of funding and knowledge that is transferred throughout our education system, from the University of Hawaii to STEM programs in our elementary and secondary schools. These programs have enabled Hawaii STEM-based whiz kids to establish our state as a leader in national robotics championships.

The Akamai workforce initiative, funded by TMT and other science-based organizations, provides internships for college students, many of them native Hawaiians, to pursue technical careers in astronomy. Because of the observatories, there are 500 additional good-paying, high-tech jobs in our state.

Astronomy diversifies the economy and points the way to economic opportunity and a future for Hawaii beyond tourism, beyond construction and beyond the military. Hawaii’s potential in science, technology, astronomy and, even space exploration is tremendous. But we won’t realize this opportunity for our children and our future by blocking construction of vital scientific infrastructure.

The TMT is the greatest imaginable homage to Polynesian astronomy and likely the best thing that has happened to science, technology and education in our state. Protesting it and demanding it be moved out of Hawaii is akin to demanding our university be moved to Vietnam. It’s like exiling Galileo and Copernicus because some still believe that the sun goes around the Earth.

Stopping the TMT would surely be the action generations after us would see as the singular event in our state’s history that irreparably damaged science, technology and education and prevented us from becoming a leader in these fields.

Do we really want to protest this gift and all its attendant benefits and send an industry that only produces knowledge and high-paying tech jobs someplace else? Do we actually want our children to grow up in a Hawaii with fewer and less-rewarding jobs to choose from, forcing them to leave to enjoy decent careers?

The answer is clearly "No." We need to support the TMT. Our future depends on it.