‘I Aloha Molokai’ Group Speaks Up & Out on Big Wind

A scene from an I Aloha Molokai video.

Let’s dispense right off with the notion that Molokai residents who oppose the Big Wind energy project are a bunch of NIMBYs with no appreciation of the issues.

NIMBYism doesn’t even enter the equation when the size of Big Wind's impacts are considered.

The “I Aloha Molokai” group has launched a campaign against Big Wind that goes to the heart of the matter – Molokai residents’ insistence that energy projects respect their values. Projects that threaten those values are not acceptable, as they are making clear in their campaign.

I Heart Molokai has sponsored series of high-quality videos created with plenty of professional expertise. Here are a couple quotes from one of them, accessible at the group’s website:

"Molokai says 'no' to a lot of things, but we do this to perpetuate our land, our culture and our lifestyle."

"These developers don't care about Molokai. They just want to make their profits and move on to the next money-making location."

Check out the material at the site and see if you can find flaws in the group’s arguments. High-cost Big Wind isn’t wanted on the Friendly Isle, and many of us on Oahu don’t see how the economics make sense – $3 billion to deliver an average of 160 MW of power – let alone the unacceptable impacts on Molokai, and Lanai, too.