What’s Up With The Thirty-Meter Telescope?

Let’s see … Hawaii’s state senate has voted to ban progress on construction of the Thirty-Meter telescope
(TMT) on Mauna Kea on the Big Island until “a series of audits” can show that, somehow, it’s a good idea.

Let’s also see … the state and the University of Hawaii and the TMT International Observatory Board have been trying to start construction on the $1.4 billion TMT on Mauna Kea for over two years, right? And progress has slowed to a halt because a microscopically small group of “concerned citizens” has joined hands on the mountain, chanting and praying and building stone images and generally flouting the law and knocking progress kapakahi. That’s because these concerned citizens have discovered that Mauna Kea is “sacred ground.” Ominously, the TMT’s Observatory Board is seriously shifting attention to an alternate site in La Palma the Canary Islands, where “environment and permitting progress is ongoing.”

Couple of comments. One: lots of Hawaii is “sacred ground,” including Mauna Loa, Ka‘ena Point (the “jumping off” place) Diamond Head (Le‘ahi) … on and on. What’s wrong with adding a world-class observatory to the already world-class collection of telescopes on Mauna Kea, thereby cementing Hawaii’s reputation as the go-to location for celestial observation in an environment free of intruding, interfering terrestrial light sources?

OK, OK, OK. Let’s say that the “concerned citizens” win, that Mauna Kea remains a haven for existing telescopes and ‘iwi. I’ve got the perfect fallback location for the TMT on Oahu. Get ready. Are you ready? It’s … Pupukea! Before you crumple and toss this newspaper, think about it. Pupukea … good elevation, availability of public land, proximity to a source of ready groceries (Foodland) and caffeine (The Coffee Bean) for hungry and sleepy astronomers, and, best of all, a mix of classy celestial scientists and technicians that would enrich the North Shore’s population of local surfers and mainland wannabees. Imagine tour busses carting visitors to the shiny-new Pupukea thirty-meter site to buy TMTee-shirts, TMT-burgers with fries, or to dine at the Thirty-Meter shrimp truck. The opportunities for schlock are endless.
Or … maybe the Canary Islands …