What’s Been Going On in the Kingdom of Hawai’i, Pt 1… “TMT Paid for it’s own Poll and so now ‘EVERYBODY Loves TMT'” (so they say)

TMT apparently paid for a poll to be done by Ward Research (in Honolulu). It had a whole 613 respondents distributed across the islands. I’m posting the text of one article about it, with links to others. And a list of my own personal “highlight points”. So this is at the top, I place my mana’o (heartfelt thoughts) here.

My mana’o: This is an attempt by TMT to justify their continuing this project which Mauna a Wākea and her supporters do not want.

“The poll says people want it”. No, YOU (TMT) made (paid for) the poll so it would appear everyone wants it.

“Also many people do NOT understand the sacred energetic nature of Mauna Kea, for not just Hawai’i, but for the entire planet.

“Mauna a Wākea must, and will, be protected from this.

Note that only the title of last article (Civil Beat) implied any opposition to the TMT.

• Statewide Poll Results Show Strong Support for TMT; Results Released Today (TMT.org)
• POLL: TMT Commissioned Survey Shows Support (Big Island Now)
• New poll shows majority of residents support Thirty Meter Telescope (Hawaii News Now TV news station)
• New poll shows majority of residents support Thirty Meter Telescope (K5 TV News Station)
• Telescope supported, survey finds (Star Advertiser newspaper)
• Poll measures support for TMT project (Hawaii Tribune Herald)
• Poll: Half Of Native Hawaiians Still Oppose Building The TMT (CivilBeat.com)
• Link to poll data.

A few snips from these articles

• …survey …shows data suggesting that a majority of Hawai’i residents believe that construction of TMT should continue.
• TMT paid for the poll.
• A majority of Hawaii residents support the stalled Thirty Meter Telescope and say construction should move forward on the summit of Mauna Kea.
• Overall, 62 percent of respondents supported moving forward while 29 percent opposed it, with the remainder not taking a side.
• While TMT may be pleased with the supermajority of Caucasians, Japanese and Filipinos who support moving ahead, those racial and ethnic identities don’t have a strong cultural connection to Mauna Kea and, as groups, haven’t been as significantly involved in the TMT dialogue.

My points about all this:

1. 613 people? The poll sample is so small, how can there be any significance to it.
2. Q2 asks, “Based on what you have heard, read, or seen…, do you support or oppose the TMT? They have “n=433” Does that mean only 433 responded to that one? Also, even so, with 13% refusing to answer, that means this important question received only 613 x .87 = 533 responses. So whether it’s 533 or 433, that’s not a very large or representative sample in my view.
3. TMT just announced it intends to go up Mauna Kea for measurements of some sort. Interesting how this poll comes out just before that was announced.
4. Sending “crews” up Mauna Kea to “restart” construction… whatever happened to the Hawaii Supreme Court which is going to make a decision on whether TMT construction may continue? TMT is not trying to “get around” the laws which they’ve already broken, would they? “Oh, but the poll says people want it. So let’s go up anyway.”
5. Questions are clearly slanted toward “favoring” TMT. Example, “The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is an international project that will build one of the world’s most advanced astronomical observatories in the world on Maunakea”. So anyone whose family has lived here for generations and loves MaunaKea is clearly not for science and therefore is backwards and not intelligent (at least, those are the implications).
6. The company which is benefiting from this poll (TMT) paid for the poll.
7. My mana’o: This is an attempt by TMT to justify their continuing this project which Mauna a Wākea and her supporters do not want. “The poll says people want it”. No, YOU (TMT) made (paid for) the poll so it would appear everyone wants it. Also many people do NOT understand the sacred energetic nature of Mauna Kea, for not just Hawai’i, but for the entire planet.

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Statewide Poll Results Show Strong Support for TMT; Results Released Today

On the following pages are the results of a statewide scientific public opinion poll conducted in October 2015 by Ward Research, Inc., an independent research firm based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Total sample size was n=613 residents, 18 years of age and older, conducted via both cell phone and landline. The poll quota sampled for key demographic characteristics (e.g. age, ethnicity, gender, and island of residence). The demographics of the sample match the demographics of Hawaii based on Census data. The margin of error is +/- 4%.

Among the key findings:

• 88% of Hawaii residents agree there should be a way for science and Hawaiian culture to co-exist on Maunakea
• 75% of Hawaii residents agree that TMT has followed a lengthy approval process, including permitting, community meetings and environmental impact statements,so work should proceed
• 74% of Hawaii residents agree that TMT will help create good paying jobs and economic benefits for those living on Hawaii Island
• 63% of Hawaii residents agree that a failure to move forward with TMT after following all regulations would hurt Hawaii’s reputation as a place to do business 62% of Hawaii residents support moving ahead with the construction of TMT
• 59% of Big Island residents support moving ahead with the construction of TMT
• Support for TMT’s construction is split among Hawaiians/part Hawaiians, with 49% of those polled opposing the project and 44% supporting the project

View the full poll results here.