Stop the Development Mentality

[MauiScubaSteve]

I just sent this message to Jean-Michel Cousteau's PBS Ocean Adventures feedback.
We need to turn the tide on how we treat the oceans that bring so much life to our lives. It is very likely that when we finally ruin the ocean, life as we know it will quickly end. It would be much better if we find a way to change before we find out if I'm right. It may seem like we are too small to make a difference, but if nobody tries nodody will succeed. The web is supposedly a powerful tool and it would be nice if we could prove that true. It would be much better to show our kids how to make positive change rather than just telling them they could do it.

Maui needs a true Ocean Hero to put a stop to the unnessary destruction of one of our best shore diving sites. Starwood Hotels will begin demolition of the Renaissance Resort Jan 17th. Located next to Ulua Reef, this project will do irreparable harm to one of our most popular marine recreation sites.

The property could be remodled without damaging the reef, but the filthy rich owners of Starwood would not be able to make as much money and the filthy rich target clientel would not be able to revel in the new opulence of the planned St. Regis Resort.

The nearshore waters are a favorite place for mother Humpbacks to nurse their calves and further disruption of the balances bodes ill for them and all marine life in South Maui. If Jean-Michel would set an example by helping us find an ocean friendly solution, like making it a Cousteau Resort, Maui and the Earth would be much better off.

Mahalo for your Kokua,

I am not saying this is the answer, I am trying to start a conversation and a movement to actually make change rather than talk about it. Email representatives, boycot partners, write more letters to editors, get off our collective asses. The Renaissance Wailea is not neccessarily our last stand to save the ocean but it could be the first stand of the new wave of change. The Hawaiian Islands could be the place to start the revolutions.

Bush made a Monument of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, even stranger things could happen.

 

[Wildcard]

He also made 275,000 square miles off limits to bottom trawling in Alaska so the coral can regrow and fish stocks can recover. Funny, somehow CNN overlooked that too. Could it be the greenies are wrong about GWB?

 

[bwerb]

Wiskey Tango Foxtrot!

I love that reef!

The Renaissance Resort was the first hotel I ever stayed in in Maui...when it was 7, before it became a Stouffer Resort when it was a...dang...a...it'll come to me...a...arrrrgh...I'll remember at 3:30 AM...Westin Wailea!

Anyhow, I can't believe they'd do this...first trip to Maui, Honeymoon and three weeks from now...I love this reef!

Where do I send my protest!

 

[Cacia]

yea, I am tired of the snide Bush comments.

Anybody know anything about his farm in Crawford?

pretty amazing.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Aloha bwerb,

The feedback link in my first post is where I started. This will take influence and money and I dont know if the Cousteau/PBS partnership has enough of either but they have way more than me. Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Sea Shepards, World Wildlife Fund, Nature Conservancy, etc. I tried the Cousteau Society but their site didn't like Safari (mac). If we could get on the first page of all those sites people would notice.

This needs to be a collective engagement, everybodies ideas, everybodies connections, maybe even hacking and swamping.

With regard to W, to my knowledge I'm only a fan of 3 things he's done and I only found out about the third one minutes ago. The other was his addicted to oil speech, which must have miffed the Oil exec's pulling his strings. This needs to be people not parties, if W stands with us he's with us, and that would definately be a stranger thing.

It's time for a line in the sand!

 

[bwerb]

don't get me started on W...I hear the jackboots of tyranny a marching...(like how he basically negated 9 of the 10 ammendments to the constitution this week by signing the Military Commissions Act of 2006...but don't get me started).

If possible, I'd like some references to what Starwood's plan is...I can't believe they'd be cool with destroying the reef...and that the Hawaiian State government would let them...please let me know where this came from so I can best start writing letters.

 

[Wildcard]

don't get me started on W...I hear the jackboots of tyranny a marching...(like how he basically negated 9 of the 10 ammendments to the constitution this week by signing the Military Commissions Act of 2006...but don't get me started).

If possible, I'd like some references to what Starwood's plan is...I can't believe they'd be cool with destroying the reef...and that the Hawaiian State government would let them...please let me know where this came from so I can best start writing letters.

Excuse me, you have enough problems of your own, don't worry about ours. Maybe you can write some letters about the oil spills that are not cleaned up in Canada? How about the rampant salmon farms that are constantly breaking loose and introducing allien species and disease into the oceans?
I have not had time to read up on this plan. Im sure it involves some level of change but not some enviromental disaster. I personally think all the hotels and condos should be torn down and not rebuilt but that aint gonna happen either. These people can simply not just run out and tear up the coast in the name of progress, sorry, no can!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

The disaster is that we as a society continue to gamble with the health of our beloved ocean. Heavy rains would make a big mess, we know this because they have done it before, over and over. Can't we learn from our mistakes and just say no. Wildcard we can't get 'em to tear 'em down, but maybe we can start the slow down.

In the last decade Maui has allowed at least 3 major costal hotels to tear down and rebuild, as well as quite a few new major costal properties built and tons of houses all over the place. The few dive sites I've known for 10 years look worse now, though their not all close to the developement. What about a ten year moritorium on developement in the coastal zone to see if the near shore ecosystem shows signs of recovery.

This is a good time to pitch this battle, because next time it might be the new owners of the Prince, the Kea Lani or the Waldorf Astoria (Grand Wailea). The smaller size of the property and the Ulua Reef proximity should mean it will be easier to save and set a better precident for the bigger battles to come.

The Starwood project will be sold as a low impact project but so I'm sure was the aquarium and it definately was not. Acording to the Chamber of Commerce FAQ page, the rainey season is Dec - Mar (though we had flooding on Monday). Maybe the first 2 1/2 months they won't tear it up very much. Has it ever rained hard in April?

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Hang in there bwerb, Maui is a world wide tourist destination and we need pressure from tourists from all over the world for this to work. Threaten to go somewhere else if Maui can't pull it's head out. Threaten to not go to Starwood properties anywhere because of what they are doing on Maui. If your a travel agent threaten not to book Starwood properties. Threaten not to book Maui!

If we made enough noise that Starwood lost confidence in their impending construction permits (not granted yet), maybe they would bail and sell for a reasonably exhorbitant price. Rumor says the Kea Lani was recently purchased for half a bilion, so what's the Renaissance worth?

 

[bwerb]

Excuse me, you have enough problems of your own, don't worry about ours. Maybe you can write some letters about the oil spills that are not cleaned up in Canada? How about the rampant salmon farms that are constantly breaking loose and introducing allien species and disease into the oceans?
I have not had time to read up on this plan. Im sure it involves some level of change but not some enviromental disaster. I personally think all the hotels and condos should be torn down and not rebuilt but that aint gonna happen either. These people can simply not just run out and tear up the coast in the name of progress, sorry, no can!

Without turning this into an international flame war, rest assured, as an American citizen I feel fully justified in commenting severely on a development plan which affects an area I hold personally very dear.

There are a billion causes out there which we can whine, complain and sit in bed all day with the covers up in a state of catharsis because there is just too much to do...or...we can select specific causes which we have some connection or degree of passion about and work on them.

Why you would chose to respond to my post with a suggestion that I "don't worry about our problems" is beyond me. If I had an environmental issue in an area which is largely supported by international tourism, I'd be thrilled that people outside of the actual community would take the time and effort to make their voices heard, I'd hardly throw-up snide comments about things closer to their homes...especially when I don't know anything about them.