The Maui News recently published the following op-ed by Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser on the state’s “economic vitality and long-term sustainability”:
by Senator Gary Hooser
District 7
On August 2, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on “This Week with Stephanopoulos” cautiously affirmed what Newsweek announced on its front cover: The Recession is Over. For all those people still struggling to make ends meet in the aftermath of foreclosures, bankruptcies and job losses, this may be hard to swallow. The lack of clarity as to what lies on the horizon makes navigating the troubled waters of recovery all the more difficult. As the Newsweek story points out, it will be a “pokey, painful recovery.”
It is time to lift our heads, put our shoulders and our brains to the task and move past the siege mentality that currently hobbles both our state government and the private sector. It is time to refocus and confront the new reality.
Gov. Linda Lingle and our leaders in labor need to strike a quick and fair bargain. And we all need to turn our attention to the task of revitalizing our economy, re-energizing our education system and building a sustainable future – all while replanting the seeds of hope and optimism in our community. We live in one of the greatest places on this planet and we have within ourselves the power and the ability to reinvigorate our economy and our people.
The formula is as simple as it is demanding: A focus on energy independence, educational excellence and food security will translate into economic vitality and long-term sustainability.
The dangerous convergence of economic, environmental and security interests surrounding our near total dependence on imported oil makes the goal of energy independence the most critical issue facing our state. As a place with an abundance of natural energy resources including solar, wind, geothermal, wave and ocean thermal, the opportunity and benefits of tackling this issue are huge. Retaining, within our own economy, any significant percentage of the $7 billion or more presently exported annually for the importation of foreign oil would have a massive and immediate economic-multiplier effect. The creation of “green-collar” jobs in both the development and implementation of renewable energy strategies is a tangible opportunity.
Hawaii can be the world leader in the development of renewable energy. This is not an idle dream. It is a realizable goal. As is achieving excellence in our public education system. Pre-K through university, we have to do better by our children and grandchildren. While streamlining and improving the efficiencies of the central Department of Education administration is essential, our primary focus must be on improving the classroom experience for students. In the long term, we must increase the pay and training of teachers while shrinking class size, especially in the lower grades. Funding to support education will continue to be a challenge but must not be used as an excuse for failure or nonaction. Parents, students, businesses and communities across our state must step up to the plate even more and provide the resolve and leadership needed to achieve our goal of excellence in public education. Test scores have improved steadily over the past few years and we must maintain the positive momentum.
To achieve true long-term sustainability as an island state, we must be serious about supporting our local farmers and protecting our shrinking supply of agricultural lands. Hawaii is dangerously dependent on imported food and, with united government and public support, we could dramatically reduce our reliance on imported meat, fish, milk and produce. Our state government spends millions of dollars each year to feed students in our public schools, inmates in our prisons and patients in our public hospitals – state government should set the example and buy locally grown food first.
We are entering a new reality and a new economy. It is critical now more than ever that we work together as a community, that we set aside our differences and that we approach the challenges of the present as the opportunities for the future that they really are.
* Sen. Gary Hooser of Kauai is the majority leader of the state Senate. He has announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 2010.