by Jake Dunagan at 12:34 PM
At a recent roundtable discussion held by the UH Manoa Department of Political Science, Jim Dator, Ira Rohter, and Lynette Cruz offered their perspectives on the challenges Hawaii faces in a world of decreasing access to energy (especially oil), environmental collapse, financial crisis, and cultural upheaval. Below is an excerpt from Jim's talk. The complete paper can be found
here.
So more and more careful observers are finally becoming concerned about a looming gap when oil is unbearably expensive and scarce, and before new equivalent energy sources can pick up the slack.
That is what the immediate future is now being called optimistically: "The Gap", with the implication that there will be something stable and sustainable on the other side of the gap, if we can just weather it through. In 1969 Aurelio Peccei, who soon after founded the Club of Rome, wrote a book titled The Chasm Ahead. It very well described events that are now unfolding, right on cue, as Peccei said they would if we did not take action to avoid the chasm, which, in spite of his best efforts and my expectations, we did not do.
I think a "chasm" may be a better image than a mere "gap"--which just sounds to many of us like a great place to shop for funky clothes.
But the end of cheap and abundant oil is only one of three challenges facing Hawaii in our view.
A second are all of the environmental challenges that Peccei, Ira, and many others, including myself, have been warning us about for 40 years, most dramatically global climate change, sea-level rise, water scarcity, soil erosion and contamination, food (especially grain) shortages, air, soil and water pollution, overfishing and ocean pollution, new and renewed global pandemics, and massive global movements of environmental refugees.
Again, Ira and I did not differ about the reality and severity of these challenges. We differed in two ways, first of all, in what to do about them, and secondly, whether action would be taken in time or not.
As I said, I was optimistic, since Hawaii was so vulnerable, that sensible people would of course consider our concern, assess the matter, decide what to do about it, and begin to move quickly towards a preferred future. There was every indication in the early 1970s that we were going to do just that. But a funny thing happened on the way to the future, and, after a great start, Hawaii, and the rest of the US, simply put their butts in the air, their heads in the sand, and boogied on like there was no tomorrow.
Btw- is my organic farm land grant lease in yet? I can't really afford to buy one yet with all my debt...
:)