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Patricia Tummons, founder of the Environment Hawaii newsletter, and Kirk R. Smith, Senior Fellow and Program on Environment Coordinator at the East-West Center, joined host Randall Roth to consider how well Hawaii is caring for its natural environment. Smith argued that Hawaii's geographic remoteness gives the islands a relatively clean environment by global and historical standards, but that same isolation makes its unique ecosystems extraordinarily vulnerable—Hawaii harbors more endangered species than the rest of the United States combined and some ten thousand endemic species. Tummons pushed back on any complacency, citing uncontrolled coastal runoff, groundwater contamination from agricultural pesticides that may take decades to reach aquifers, and military installations whose contamination is unlikely ever to be fully remediated. Both agreed that coastal zone management is among the most pressing priorities, and both rejected the notion that environmental protection and economic activity are inherently incompatible. The concrete question before the audience is whether Hawaii's limited public resources are being directed at its most serious environmental risks, or whether attention is being diverted toward concerns that, while legitimate elsewhere, are comparatively minor for the islands.
Transcript
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