Malu 'Aina

Jim Albertini,

Thank you for sending a protest email from EcoInternet. Below is a copy of your message sent. Please you could forward this email to friends asking them to respond as well. The alert can be found at:

http://tracking.ecologicalinternet.org/tracking/click?msgid=mn551x-4j9m6bwtm3885z&target=http%3a%2f%2fforests.org%2fshared%2falerts%2fsendsm.aspx%3fid%3dhawaii_maunakea

Again, thank you for your participation now and in the future. Together we are achieving real and lasting conservation victories!

Warm regards,
Dr. Glen Barry
 **********

The Honorable David Y. Ige, Office of the Governor

Aloha Governor Ige, 

I join with native Hawaiians and their global supporters - and now the Office of Hawaiian Affairs - in demanding immediate halt of the Thirty-Meter Telescope contruction on sacred Mauna Kea. The mountain is of such importance to native peoples, that if your government incautiously allows the telescope to be built before the courts resolve the issue, it will cause permanent damage. The mountain is vital to recharging the Big Island's aquifers, and is sacred to native peoples. Telescope development is leading to industrial pollution and ecosystem loss. 

In this day and age it is not acceptable to steal and desecrate native lands in the name of science. Given ecological destruction to native lands and waters by decades of telescope building on Mauna Kea, and the wider cultural and ecological damage to Hawaiian Islands and peoples by centuries of occupation, if you fail to do so, I will have no option but to boycott Hawaiian tourism and urge others to do so as well. 

We urge you to act in the spirit of ALOHA for all of Hawai'i and the world, in accordance with the laws of the State of Hawai'i and international standards protecting indigenous peoples, and take urgent action to accede to native demands. Please restrict all further development of the Thirty Meter Telescope or any other structure within the Mauna Kea Conservation District. Further, instruct the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) to deny the University of Hawai'i's lease renewals for Mauna Kea Conservation District lands. And finally, existing observatories must be charged a fair market lease and back rent to be deposited into the Public Trust Land Fund for the betterment of the conditions of Native Hawaiians.

Truly respecting the host culture of Aloha 'Aina (love of the land) means respecting the sacred places that the native culture has held in reverence for millennia. Doing so lays a good foundation for genuine healing of the longstanding historic wrongs that continue to affect the well-being of everyone in Hawaii. Any activity that will have adverse impacts on the natural, historic and cultural resources of Mauna Kea are NOT permitted by law and you are tasked with enforcing these laws. The University has already admitted that 45 years of astronomy development have resulted in "adverse, significant, and substantial impacts" to the natural and cultural resources of Mauna Kea. 

This protest email campaign is not meant to disrupt or be disrespectful, but rather represents global Aloha 'Aina affinity for your beautiful state and all its people. Together #WeAreMaunaKea makes the heartfelt demand that the history of Hawaiian native rights abuses draw to an end by rejecting further Mauna Kea telescopes. That said, until the desecration of Mauna Kea ends, you and your administration - as well as TMT funders and staff - personally share blame for continuing the long history of shameful genocide and ecocide wrought upon native Hawaiians and their lands. 

I urge you to commit to sustaining this Earth, before looking for others. Unless the building of telescopes on Mauna Kea ends, I and others will have no option but to refuse to visit your beautiful islands, and we will be boycotting Hawaiian tourism and products. 

Mahalo, 

Jim Albertini
Malu 'Aina
United States
ja@malu-aina.org

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