It’s finally here: “Foam Free Maui,” as the county has billed it. After years of beefing because it was argued that only styrofoam could hold – well – beef, the measure regulating the use of polystyrene has been implemented. As of New Year’s Eve, polystyrene food service containers are banned for “use, sale or provision” […]
Rob Parsons
Pacific Whale Foundation offers Plastic Pollution Solutions program
A new Plastic Pollution Solutions program is available to all middle and high school students in Maui County. The program is a product of a grant awarded to Pacific Whale Foundation through the County of Maui Environmental Protection and Sustainability Division. The goal is to familiarize students with the environmental issue of plastics in […]
You can now connect to Maui Invasive Species Committee with your smartphone
You can now connect with the Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC) using the COM Connect app on a smartphone. It’s a mobile communication tool that gives citizens the ability to alert Maui County officials to various issues like abandoned vehicles, potholes, graffiti as well as report invasive species. “One of the ways to keep [Maui] […]
2017 MauiTime Green Issue: A brief guide to Maui’s community environmental stewards
One of the (many) advantages to living in Maui County is that virtually everyone agrees as to the importance of environmental issues. There are plenty of federal and state agencies dedicated to making sure succeeding generations will still enjoy the land, water and air we have now, and Maui County Environmental Coordinator Rob Parsons has […]
Maui County Environmental Coordinator responds to recent MauiTime story on Olowalu seawall demonstrations
Editor’s note: Maui County Environmental Coordinator Rob Parsons, a longtime contributor to MauiTime, felt that our recent cover story on anti-seawall activists in Olowalu left out others who helped stop the road project. Here are his thoughts: I was glad to see MauiTime featured the story on how activists helped the DOT rethink a project for […]
An investment group wants to lease Old Maui High for $1/year. Northshore residents aren’t so sure
On a clear, calm evening in early November, a group of about 70 mostly North Shore residents gathered in front of the Old Maui High School in Hamakuapoko to hear how a group of investors planned to transform the abandoned, eerily beautiful 23.5-acre property, the island of Maui, and the world. The for-profit organization TEACH […]
Now that the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii has taken place, what happens next?
“If all we do is host people from around the world and have a really great conference, then we have missed the opportunity.” So said Charles “Chipper” Wichman, addressing attendees of the Hawaii Conservation Conference at UH-Hilo in August of 2015. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), founded in 1948, has a […]
Kiwanis Club of Kahului hosting Maui County Environmental Coordinator Rob Parsons
Maui County Environmental Coordinator–and longtime MauiTime contributor–Rob Parsons will speak at an upcoming Kiwanis Club of Kahului luncheon. Parsons has lived on Maui for 36 years and is now in his 10th–10th!–year as Environmental Coordinator. Governor David Ige also recently appointed him to the Hawaii Environmental Council. He’ll speak on a range of environmental and […]
County of Maui issues RFP for possible municipal electric utility
Looks like the County of Maui really is serious about possibly setting up a municipal electric utility–especially given the possible merger between Hawaiian Electric Industries and NextEra that’s pending before the state Public Utilities Commission. How that merger will affect Maui Electric Co. (MECO) is still a matter of conjecture. So on May 6, the […]
Talking story about sustainable energy with Maui consultant Doug McLeod
Doug McLeod spent four years as Maui County Energy Commissioner. He was a strong advocate on several key energy topics, and has brought critical analysis to many complex issues, including the proposed Oahu-Maui undersea cable. He also procured contracts for renewable energy installations at 23 County of Maui facilities, with cost-savings estimated at $10 million […]
Who Will Step Forward And Run Against Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa?
Four years ago this month, Alan Arakawa was in a tough spot. He had been Maui County’s mayor once before, but that was all in the past. Since Charmaine Tavares had defeated his 2006 reelection bid, he’d been out of power, and out of the news. But Tavares had grown seriously unpopular during her term, […]
Maui Environment Status Report: Earth Day may be over, but Maui County Environmental Coordinator Rob Parsons is busier than ever
Just because Earth Day has passed, that doesn’t mean we can all go back to our fast food meals, sports utility vehicles and 15 gadget chargers. Sure, Maui seems more enlightened than many places on matters like protection for endangered species and clean energy, but on others we can use considerable improvement. To get a […]
REQUIEM FOR A STREAM: Controversy in Waihe’e Valley Runs As Deep As Its Storied Waters–And Deepens Still As A New Razor Wire Gate Denies All Entry To The Famed ‘Swinging Bridges’ Area
[Image: Waihe’e area marked in red. Maui County (lower, B&W) + Hawaiian archipelago (top, color; L-R) Ni’ihau, beige (Kaua’i County); Kaua’i, beige (Kaua’i County); ‘Oahu (City & County of Honolulu), beige; Moloka’i (Kalawao County + Maui County) , orange; Lana’i (Maui County), orange; Maui (Maui County), orange; Kaho’olawe (Maui County), orange; Hawai’i Island (i.e. Big […]
Alan Arakawa: The (Re)Entrance Interview
Last weekend, Alan Arakawa was sworn in as the seventh Mayor of Maui County — eight years after he became Maui’s fifth Mayor, and four years after he watched Charmaine Tavares take his job. A few days before the ceremony, we sat down with Arakawa in his Wailuku transition office — a small, cluttered room […]
MauiTime Contributor Rob Parsons Lands Arakawa Cabinet Post
MauiTime contributor Rob Parsons is among the latest additions to the Arakawa Administration, landing the environmental coordinator gig this week. Says Rob: “I’m looking forward to implementing many of the ideas I researched and wrote about in Rob Report.” He also added, totally not jokingly, “Everything I know, I owe to MauiTime editor Jacob Shafer!” […]
What’s the Price of HECO’s Imported Palm Oil?
“The ultimate price is not paid in dollars, but in ecological crimes against nature, injustices to native peoples and in extinctions to some of the most majestic creatures with which we share the planet. Sacrificing all this to keep Hawaii’s lights on and homes and condos air-conditioned is not merely unacceptable, but is also ill-conceived […]