Editorial: Time to find compromise in TMT standoff

As the current blockade of the Mauna Kea Access Road goes into its fourth week, there have been developments in the Thirty Meter Telescope standoff that ought to invite those with a long view of this controversy to step up — to the negotiating table.

One was the decision by Gov. David Ige to withdraw his emergency proclamation governing Mauna Kea, which had given the state license to shut down areas and access funds more liberally than was ordinarily the case.

Also, he approved a request by the leaseholder of the TMT site, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, to extend the deadline for the construction start by two years, until Sept. 26, 2021. This should provide an opening for willing participants to have a meaningful exchange. It’s past time to reject the “no-compromise” stance, and to end the rancor that has caused such bitter discord within our communities.

There’s no doubt about the resonance of the protest, with an expanding circle of sympathizers. The social-media fire lit under the issue — with Jack Johnson, Jason Momoa and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson among the celebrities chiming in — has been seen before, in 2015.

But this time, it seems to have a greater presence beyond Hawaii island. On Oahu, trucks and other vehicles displaying the distress symbol of the upside-down Hawaiian flag have become a common sight.

Also on Oahu, there have been counter-demonstrations by those who support the TMT at the state Capitol, with a gathering of Mauna Kea self-described “protectors” facing them, across South Beretania Street.

In sum: The protectors have proven to be a force to be reckoned with — though by itself that assures the opponents of nothing.

To begin with, leaders among the protesters will have to decide if they are willing to do some of the reckoning, setting aside earlier pledges not to compromise. Compromise is absolutely essential, as it is the only way to reconcile two opposing claims peacefully and justly.

After all, there is a powerful countervailing force the state must protect. While the Native Hawaiian population can assert their legally protected rights to access the mountain for traditional cultural and religious practices, the lessees of the astronomy precinct of the summit have their rights of access, too.

First in line with a legitimate claim are the astronomy crews with research ongoing on the summit. In recent days, some technicians have been allowed to return, in exchange for access by cultural practitioners.

This half-measure is unacceptable. The “protectors” have no business blocking people from doing their legitimate work — much of it exceedingly time-sensitive. Precluding their access is simply unjustifiable, and correcting this should be the first wrong to be righted.

Further, TMT has the permit, the legal right to proceed. Promises made by state government must be kept. Many Hawaii residents, including Native Hawaiians, support the TMT as an overwhelmingly beneficial development.

The opponents to the project like to point to the Navy’s use of Kahoolawe as a bombing target until 1990, and the protracted battle to stop it, as an example of how resolute opposition can win out.

The issues are completely different. TMT would be conducting research, not dropping bombs. And while construction brings environmental risk, it is certainly manageable, whereas the ordnance cleanup and replanting efforts on Kahoolawe have been a decades-long enterprise, still ongoing.

That said, Kahoolawe does offer a template for a kind of partnership, with the restoration of the mountain environment to be the long-term goal. In the earlier case, the federal funds financed the work of the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission, an agency formed by the Legislature as caretakers of the island until it can be transferred to a Native Hawaiian sovereign entity. In other words, an agreement reached in good faith by all the parties involved.

Could something akin to the commission be set up to oversee summit restoration? Perhaps. There is already an agency, the Office of Maunakea Management, chartered to oversee day-to-day management of the Maunakea Science Reserve. Its guidance includes a plan dealing specifically with decommissioning retired telescopes among the 13 located on the summit campus.

Surely this protest has brought to the fore some additional voices that should be added to the conversation about implementing that plan. Some telescopes have been identified for decommissioning include the oldest one, the Hoku Kea Observatory, as well as the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. Seeing that this happens in a timely way could be a focal point of long-range discussions.

Some have pointed to a trend toward space-based telescopes supplanting ground-based observatories such as those on Mauna Kea. Will there come a time when these mountaintop installations will have outlived their useful life? Again: perhaps.

But in order to plot a course toward that brave new world, people must talk to one another, starting with the people who hold out their love for the mauna, each for his or her own reasons.