Thirty meter telescope protests methods1/17/2024 ![]() ![]() TMT officials estimate scientists will operate the telescope for 50 years before decommission. When deciding if TMT and associated economic development is worth compromising one of their most sacred places, Kalama said Native Hawaiians also consider how it could affect future generations. Protests took place in the 1960s, she said, prior to the University of Hawaii opening the first telescope on the mountain in 1970. Opposition to telescopes on Mauna Kea predates the TMT, said Camille Kalama, a Native Hawaiian civil rights lawyer. Community outreach by TMT, Squires said, has led the organization to launch a fund to boost STEM education on the Big Island, as well as a Workforce Pipeline Program to support low-income and first-generation college students. Partners in the project, including Canada, Japan and the California Institute of Technology, have also built relationships on the island during decades of astronomy research, Squires said. 'We have no choice': 34 arrested in protest of massive telescope on sacred Hawaiian peak in a safe manner in a timely fashion," Squires told USA TODAY. "Like most in the state of Hawaii, we recognize that we have complied with everything that has been asked of us over the last 10 years and that we have every legal right to proceed. ![]() The state Board of Land and Natural Resources first issued the organization a permit in 2013, but the supreme court invalidated it in 2015, leading TMT to obtain the second, current permit. Last October, the state supreme court approved TMT's conservation district use permit for the project. ![]() ![]() The organization chose Mauna Kea partly because it is the best place for telescope astronomy research in the northern hemisphere, if not the world, said Gordon Squires, the TMT's vice president for external relations. The Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory picked Mauna Kea as its first choice for the project in 2009, leading to nearly a decade of legal challenges and approval processes. Why do TMT officials want to build there? Statewide, Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians account for 21% of the population, according to the Pew Research Center. Native Hawaiians made up 12% of the people polled. Of the Native Hawaiians surveyed in the poll conducted earlier this month, 48% said they oppose the TMT, while 44% support it. A statewide Civil Beat poll of 1,367 registered voters found 64% support the telescope, compared to 31% opposing it. Surveys suggest TMT supporters do exist in the state, however. Since current protests began around July 15, when state and local officials were scheduled to close off the access road so trucks could begin construction, about 10,000 to 15,000 protectors have come to the mountain, according to organizers with Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu.Ĭelebrities including "Aquaman" star Jason Momoa and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson have joined demonstrations at Mauna Kea, while Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has tweeted her support of the movement.ĭemonstrations have also taken place on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Kauai and Maui, as well as in Guam, a U.S. How many people have joined the protests? "They are very detrimental to this ecosystem, which is directly connected to why it is detrimental culturally," he said. Even as a child looking up from his home on the northern slope of the mountain, Mangauil recounted thinking telescopes shouldn't be there. Thirteen telescopes already exist on Mauna Kea, a clear sign of the volcano's value to astronomers, but Mangauil said protectors want the desecration to end. A leader of the movement, he stopped a TMT groundbreaking ceremony in 2014 and protested on the mountain again the following year before the Supreme Court of Hawaii approved the $1.4 billion project. Seeing numerous new faces blocking the access road up Mauna Kea, Mangauil told USA TODAY, takes his breath away. Many protesters, also referred to as protectors, are making a stand to be caretakers of their native land, said Lanakila Mangauil, a Hawaiian culture and history public school teacher. The impasse is heading into its sixth week. Scientists have a different take: Mauna Kea's climate and location make it an ideal site for astronomy, and this telescope could play a critical role in helping to find signs of extraterrestrial life. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) should not be built at Mauna Kea, they contend, raising issues of indigenous rights, sovereignty and environmental stewardship. On Hawaii's Big Island, protests against the construction of a 18-story telescope atop a dormant volcano that some Native Hawaiians consider sacred have drawn thousands. Watch Video: Momoa, 'The Rock' visit Hawaii telescope protest ![]()
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