ROB
REPORT
BY ROB PARSONS
ROBPARSONS@EARTHLINK.NET
industry, and that reporting would be annual spending reports. The tab was Greenpeace earlier this year, and agreed HECO’s PUC filing includes a request
done in an annual audit. He said that picked up by industry cheerleader the that greater steps are needed to protect to pass the costs of biodiesel along to its
he would be traveling to Malaysia in Malaysian Palm Oil Council. rainforests and their inhabitants. customers as an “energy cost adjust-
November for the annual Roundtable Leonard testified he visited two planta- Unilever purchased 382 million US gal- ment,” or fuel surcharge. Considering
for Sustainable Palm Oil meeting, and tions operated by Sime-Darby, the world’s lons of palm oil last year, and is now Hawaii’s abundance of locally available
that they would discuss things with largest supplier with 6-8 percent of the leading a coalition of multinational com- energy sources—solar, wind and ocean
potential suppliers then. total production. He said he believes they panies, including Nestle, Cadbury and thermal, to name a few—this seems to be
could fulfill the 15 million gallons annual- Proctor & Gamble, to tackle the issue of an extraordinary price for ratepayers to
uring a break in the proceed- ly specified in the HECO contract. sustainability. endure, especially considering the envi-
D
ings, Life of the Land’s Curtis Curtis countered that the demand for Curtis noted that HECO paid $155 per ronmental price paid to produce palm oil.
told me this approach was an certified palm oil far exceeds the supply, barrel of diesel fuel in April of this year, and The PUC will receive Findings of Fact
astonishing lack of due diligence by the and that prices would likely continue to guesstimated biodiesel at $232 per barrel. It and Conclusions of Law from all parties in
public utility to satisfy the basic rise. Corporate cosmetic giant Unilever is estimated that “certified” biodiesel could the case, and may issue a final decision by
requirements of the contract and its was the target of European protests by be at least 10 percent more expensive. the end of the year. MTW
providers. He noted that the first RSPO
principle is “transparency,” a word that
is absent in HECO-NRDC criteria.
Curtis asked David Waller, HECO’s
Vice President of Customer Solutions,
about the difference between the RSPO
and the HECO/NRDC sustainability
criteria. “Our criteria goes beyond that
of RSPO,” said Waller. “Fire is not to
have been used for any clearings or
plantings after 2005. We’re striving for
a balance between sustainability and
the practicality to provide electricity.”
D
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“Mr. Waller, you spoke of balance,”
D
Curtis redirected. “Can you explain how
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sustainability could not be practical?”
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ENTER Valley Isle Marine Center Halloween Shootout!
Kondo asked Waller how the date
2005 was chosen. “How is the
impact different if you said no clear-
ing for plantations within the last
ten years?”
Satellite imagery has shown thou-
sands of fires in the Borneo and
Sumatra regions over the past ten
years due to clearing rainforest and
peat lands for new plantations.
Malaysia—where nearly four million
acres of forest have been lost since
1990—leads all countries of the
world with more than 1,000 threat-
ened or endangered species of birds,
plants, trees, mammals, amphibians
and reptiles.
Even as the first two plantations in
Malaysia received RSPO certification
within the past two weeks, an October
8 report by Friends of the Earth titled
“Green Gold or Green Wash” refuted
claims of sustainability. The report
exposes plans to double palm oil plan-
tation acreage by 2010. It claims that
burning has released millions of tons
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ened, despite government promises
to protect them.
Good luck anglers in the Valley
David Leonard, who was employed
Isle Marine Center Halloween
by Imperium until earlier this year,
Shootout! Oct. 31, Lahaina
appeared as a HECO consultant and
Harbor. Grand Prize
witness. He testified that he traveled to
over $50,000! 7th
Malaysia three times in the past two
Annual! Kenny
2008kc AuL n
f go l
t es re
sB
years. One of those trips also included
!
Takashima benefit
state legislators Sen. Ron Menor and
Valley Isle Marine Center event. Entries available
Rep. Mina Morita, each of whom
in store and online.
Hawaii’s Most Experienced Marine Dealer.
reported in excess of $3,000 paid for
7th Annual Halloween Shootout
Since 1970
their airfare, food and lodging on
1976 Wells Street, Wailuku, HI 96793•www.valleyislemarinecenter.com telephonesolid 808-244-2000
MAUI TIME WEEKLY OCTOBER 16, 2008 7
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