KIUC 25 Years after the Crash

SUBHEAD: Without a clue our suburban power company drives into the future searching their rear view mirror.By Juan Wilson on 27 March 2011 for Island Breath - (http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2011/03/kiuc-25-years-after-crash.html)Image above: A Toyota truck crash on NASCAR circuit. From (http://www.autoracing1.com/).This week we learned the results of the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative board

Radioactive Bitz and Piecez

SUBHEAD: What happens over the next 24 hours is likely to be critical.By Steve Ludlum on 16 March 2011 in Economic Undertow - (http://economic-undertow.blogspot.com/2011/03/radioactive-bitz-and-piecesz.html)Image above: Uranium pellets on assembly line for use as nuclear fuel. From video below.The pitiful, inexorable slide of the Japanese nuclear station at Kurushima continues as radioactive

Planning for Failure

SUBHEAD: Inconceivable! Why failure should be a part of this plan, but isn't.By Sharon Astyk on 14 March 2011 in Casaubons Book - (http://scienceblogs.com/casaubonsbook/2011/03/inconceivable_why_failure_shou.php)Image above: The wreckage of the Challenger shuttle in 1986 just months before the Chernobyl meltdown. From (http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/investigations/q0122.shtml)."He'll never

Commission denies copter tours

SUBHEAD: Planning Commission overrules Department to protect the fragile ecosystem of Kauai.[Editor's Note: We applaud the Planning Commission for overriding the Planning Department Recommendation to approve landing helicopters near a secluded waterfall with a delicate ecosystem. We hope to see the Planning Commission continue to serving it's intended role: to direct the Planning Department to

Not Saved from Paradise Ranch

SUBHEAD: As often happens, just when you think you have secured access to a public resource, somebody thinks of another way to screw it up.By Hope Kallie on 19 January 2011 for Free Larson's Beach -(http://freelarsensbeach.com/2011/01/21/new-fenceposts-in-lepeuli-alaloa/) Image above: Fence posts installed on alaloa (traditional Hawaiian lateral bech access right of way). From original artical.We

More bikes mean less cars

SUBHEAD: London's bike superhighways bring out 70% increase in cycling.By Brian Merchant on 14 January 2011 for TreeHugger - (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/london-bike-superhighways-70-increase-cycling.php)Image above: Example of new cycling right of way in London. From (http://www.rudi.net/node/22176).In other words, London's bike superhighways are incredibly successful, as the

Metrodome collapse symptomatic

SUBHEAD: In the old days, they built places that could last a century. Fenway Park. Wrigley Field. Boston Garden.By Lloyd Alter on 14 December 2010 for TreeHugger - (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/12/metrodome-roof-failure-symptom-of-larger-failure.php) Image above: The collapsed roof of the Twin City Metrodome. From original article.People build air supported domes like the Hubert

SuperBus vs StaddleBus

SUBHEAD: California's proposed high-speed train system will be replaced with a fleet of buses that will rocket along highways at speeds up to 165 mph.By Ken Garcia on 4 December 2010 for the SF Examiner - (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/columnists/2010/12/high-speed-rail-project-shaping-be-ghost-train#ixzz17AxH6VBr)Image above: American SuperBus proposed to replace High-Speed Rail. See video

Important Ag Land Meetings

SOURCE: Kenneth Taylor (taylork021@Hawaii.rr.com)SUBHEAD: These meetings about prime agricultural lands will affect the sustainability of Kauai.[Publisher's note: At the Eco-Roundtable LEGS Conference in November 2007 IslandBreath made a presentation titled Kauai Sustainable Land Use Plan. Currently there are four land uses designations: Conservation (55% of island); Agricultural (40%), Urban (4%

All Ag Land is Important

SUBHEAD: Every piece of land outside of a current town or city limit on Kaua‘i should be designated as important.Image above: Kauai built out. Illustration by Juan Wilson. From (http://www.islandbreath.org/2007Year/20-HookahiKauai/0720-10Moratoriums.html).By Gordon Oswald on 1 November 2010 in The Garden Island -(http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_09f3b732-e57a-11df-8965-

Chance of Economic Chaos

SUBHEAD:Leaders in Washington DC have consistently chosen to delay climbing down the consumption mountain.Image above: "Fantasy Sailing" by Timmy Wang. From (http://media.photobucket.com/image/kauai%20economic%20chaos/timmytwang/FantasySailing.jpg).By Juan Wilson on 1 November 2010 -You may have noticed the increase in our blogs focus on the issue of economics. In time like these economics is a