Maui becoming epicenter for populist movements

Watch Maui to become the next big flashpoint for Hawaii’s populist politics.

There is something of a “Les Miserables” moment happening on Maui, and the politicians representing the island should take note.

Last month a coalition of groups sponsored a study session on cane burning at Kihei Community Center.

Cane burning in Hawaii is not a new issue; it is the somewhat noxious way that sugar field fields are prepared for harvesting. Since cane has all but disappeared from Hawaii, the burning on Maui is the last real source of community protest — but this meeting drew a crowd of 1,000, according to participants.

Bulletins for the meeting said, “Walk away from this meeting feeling empowered — learn how you can enforce your right to clean air!”

They might as well have been humming from “Les Miz”: “Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men.”

Today on Maui there is a great synergy developing.

First there is a building-telescope protest on Maui.

For more than a decade there have been Native Hawaiian protests over the construction of the 14-story solar telescope atop Haleakala. Just like the Mauna Kea protests, there is disagreement over whether to construct what will be Maui’s tallest building on the 10,023-foot mountain. Last month protesters forced truckers to stop hauling material up Haleakala, an action which also caused the road to the summit to be closed for most of one day.

“You could feel the tension from the coalescing environmental movement,” reported state Sen. Josh Green, a Hawaii island Democrat, who attended the cane burning meeting.

Cane burning is the great unifier, Green speculated.

“It is more organized than in the past,” he said, noting that while it included groups from the Haleakala protest and the anti-GMO group, Shaka, there were also just a lot of worried people who fear getting sick from air pollution.

“This (cane burning) has more of a reach than other environmental issues and it weighs on the psyche of the community. There were stories of children who are repeatedly winding up in the emergency room,” said Green, an emergency room physician.

A citizens group is already suing the state Health Department, demanding an injunction against the cane burns. Maui state Rep. Kaniela Ing said he will introduce legislation next year to encourage the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co. to convert its cane land to other uses.

Cane burning is not a simple issue because the cane company is one of the largest employers on the island and is backed up by the ILWU, a politically influential labor union.

“We are trying to find a solution that is fair to both sides,” Ing said. “This does not call for an end of cane burning; it calls for them to innovate.”

“As long as we don’t come out and try to shut down the company in a day, I think we can compromise and phase out cane burning,” he said.

Maui citizens have even more divisive issues going on.

Maui voters last year voted to ban GMOs. The federal court struck down the law and now citizens are organizing to fight the ruling.

When not protesting the Haleakala telescope, the federal court ruling against the GMO moratorium and cane burning, Maui residents can also spend time stewing over their health care.

Negotiations over what will become of Maui Memorial Hospital have citizens worried about their own health care.

Already this year the publicly run hospital has had to cut its budget by $28 million. Two private hospital systems are thinking about buying it, but nothing is close to being settled.

So if Maui politicians say they can hear “the people sing,” what they might be hearing are the footsteps of a riled bunch of voters.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.