Hawaii, D.C., and clean energy

So much news is self-announced by the principals these days -- candidacies for office, corporate earnings reports, protest demonstrations -- that reporters often function as editors, assessing the value of what comes in over the transom rather than going out looking for news. Worse, we can behave like hung-over art critics, complaining that what was handed to us on a silver platter didn't have much flavor and the portions were too small. I'm as bad as anyone else -- just this week I sent an email to a P.R. person asking questions about her news release which amounted to an indirect criticism of all the vague terms she used. (A computer security company wanted to say how good it was, but stuck to generalities about "solutions" rather than say what the heck they offer. Sorry, it's a pet peeve.) The Honolulu Advertiser editorialized this morning that this week's clean energy initiative, announced by Gov. Lingle and Andy Karsner, assistant secretary of energy for energy efficiency and renewable energy, was pretty thin gruel. By chance I had Karsner on "Sunrise" this morning so I told him what the editorial said and invited him to offer a specific example of what might happen as a result of the alliance. No specifics were forthcoming, so I guess the Advertiser makes a good point, but on the other hand I get the impression that the Bush administration really does see Hawaii as a useful test-bed for new energy ideas, and Karsner did give one specific reason for this that I hadn't thought of earlier. Solar power advocates tell me that Hawaii is the perfect place to show what solar can do because it's so often sunny here and because fossil fuel bills are so high here. "If it's gonna work anywhere, it's gonna work here," one guy said. How many places have not only loads of sun but also loads of wind, loads of waves, and loads of hot magma to heat steam? Now here's the extra reason to nurture alternative energies in Hawaii. Secretary Karsner says part of Hawaii's appeal is that people are always traveling through Hawaii who can see these technologies at work. An idea that works here gets seen by many, probably while they're in a good mood because they're at least partially on vacation. What better, what more beautiful place, to see swirling wind turbines or glistening solar panels? The federal government already has all kinds of programs to defray some economic costs of alternative energies. But Karsner figures we're past the experimental stage now, and it's time to do commercial projects and show people that these technologies work. Which is, of course, precisely what's happening. Wal-Mart this week let me view the solar panels Sun Edison installed on the roof of the Keeaumoku Sam's Club, cheek-by-jowl with the air conditioning units that use all that power. Costco then put out its own plaintive press release saying it already had solar panels on its Kona and Kauai stores, Hawaii's biggest, thankyouverymuch. Hoku Scientific plans to build the state's largest solar power farm near Campbell Industrial Park. An Ewa builder is offer rooftop solar panels as a new home option. A Hawaii roofing contractor is selling solar panels that ARE rooves, so the whole roof qualifies for alternative energy tax breaks. Alexander & Baldwin, Maui Land & Pineapple and other local companies with agriculture experience plan crops that can be made into ethanol. Maui Electric has a plan to test wave action power. New wind power turbines are up on Maui and the Big Island.