In Hawaii, nothing is ever easy, it seems.

On first blush, food security and sustainability would seem to be universally embraced goals.

Not so, if the means toward those goals involve a dairy farm that proposes to produce fresh local milk, but which neighbors worry will pollute Kauai’s water.

Hawaii Dairy Farms already is being sued for allegedly violating the federal Clean Water Act by a group claiming that dairy construction will likely expose the area to pollutants. And the group just delivered a 3,300-signature opposition petition to the governor.

The dairy, meanwhile, is preparing a voluntary environmental impact statement, and pledges no construction until it’s accepted by regulators.

Wonder if Lani Moo started out this way?

Lucky we live Hawaii, a lot of the time

As if we all haven’t had enough to worry about in Hawaii these past couple months or so — possible hurricanes, tropical storms, flooding, unbearable humidity and heat, big waves, even a possible tsunami — now comes word that Mauna Loa on Hawaii island might be getting ready to blow, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

We’ve all heard about the economic price we all must pay to live in Hawaii, but natural disasters, actual and potential, also are a cost we must absorb in exchange for being able to say, “Lucky we live Hawaii.”