Kingdom of Hawai’i blog, 11-13-15… Ali`i Nui Mō`ī Edmund K. Silva, Jr… “King’s Letter to President Governor Ige, TMT Confrontation”

Excellent points made in this letter. My highlights are below.

“Anyone who listened to the oral argument before the Hawai’i Supreme Court regarding the challenge to the permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope knows that at least four of the judges telegraphed quite openly that they intend to find the process by which TMT secured its permit to be unconstitutional.

“One of the issues central to the Court’s consideration was that the Board of Land and Natural Resources voted to grant the permit and then convened the contested case hearing that would normally have as its purpose examination of evidence to determine whether a permit should be granted or not.

“I am firmly among those who believe the invalidation of the permit is going to happen within the next two or three months… In the short time remaining before the permit is invalidated, little construction progress can be made by the TMT, certainly not enough to create even a colorable argument against permit invalidation.

“Given this reality, I am appalled that you would support a resumption of construction by TMT, rather than calling upon them to wait until the Supreme Court rules. The resumption of construction serves only one purpose – provocation. Knowing that their project is in jeopardy, the TMT leadership has decided to recreate the confrontation that led to suspension of construction.

“Why would you and TMT want to recreate the confrontation when the permit is about to be invalidated?… The TMT wants the public to get all upset that “protestors” are blocking these innocent and culturally sensitive astronomers from simply pursuing scientific knowledge. You want to direct public attention away from the fact that State of Hawai’i agency violated the constitutional rights of the public to be heard prior to a State decision, like issuance of the permit, being made.”

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Ali`i Nui Mō`ī Edmund K. Silva, Jr., 11-13-15… “King’s Letter to Governor Ige, TMT Confrontation”

Ali`i Mana`o Nui Lanny Sinkin: Recently the Thirty Meter Telescope project announced their intention to resume construction.

In response to this provocation, the King sent a letter to the Governor urging him to show leadership by convincing the TMT project to wait for the Hawai’i Supreme Court to rule on the legality of the process that led to TMT receiving a permit from the State of Hawai’i.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/289866793/151113-King-s-Letter-to-Governor-Ige-TMT-Confrontation
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