Sustainability plan produced

Oh, boy, another plan to guide the evolution of the state, another plan to be shelved and gather dust. That’s the usual and logical reaction, no matter if the plan is a grass-roots or government effort.

In his last State of the State address, then Gov. Ben Cayetano promised a carrying-capacity study on how many tourists the state could accommodate or tolerate. Conducting the study was turned over to the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.

Months of community meetings resulted in a lot of statistics and general conclusions in a report several inches thick. If it has had any effect on state or county planning, it’s hard to detect.

Now comes the Hawai’i 2050 Sustainability Plan produced by a task force chaired by Sen. Russell Kokobun. The draft plan produced by 25 individuals from the public and private sectors is based on the belief there is an interdependency between the economy, society and the environment.

The major difference in this plan is implementation. Kokobun envisions a committee or commission to monitor state planning and procedures to see if they are in line with the plan. The Oahu senator said he would like to see an oversight commission with authority similar to the Board of Land and Natural Resources or the Board of Education, both of which set policy and oversee state departments.

There is merit in taking a long-range view of where the state may be headed and how individual communities would like to see it get there. Kokobun’s commission idea would be one way to keep the plan from just taking up shelf space.

You can take part in shaping the plan by attending presentations on Maui at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Maui Economic Opportunity office in the Cameron Center and at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 13 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. The Lanai presentation will be held 5:30 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Lanai High and Elementary School cafeteria at 5:30 p.m. The Molokai meeting will be held 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at Kaunakakai Elementary.

The plan, and a provision to comment, is available on the Internet at www.hawaii2050.org. As with any such plan, it will be up to the public to make it a working document.