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environmental hazards

ghakim

Annotation of

Environmental Justice Global Record: Hawaii

In response to

2. What environmental hazards are there in this setting, what is their source and what are their effects on the environment, health and inclusive prosperity?

includes severe water pollution -- tied to militarism, including raw sewage and petroleum contamination (incl. in Oahu's sole aquifer) - O'ahu Water Protectors, calls to shut down the Navy's Red Hill facility
(combo disaster) potential radioactive contamination and legacies of U.S. nuclear weapon testing -- "The Runit Dome is a relic of America’s atomic past. It’s home to 3 million cubic feet of radioactive waste that was buried there as part of the government’s effort to clean up the mess left from dozens of nuclear tests in the 1940s and ’50s that decimated the atoll. A warming climate and rising sea levels now threaten the integrity of the saucer-shaped structure, which, if it fails, could spill its radioactive contents into the Pacific, a scenario that would threaten both people and the surrounding environment." (source)
wildfires, compounded by climate change

intersecting factors

ghakim

Annotation of

Environmental Justice Global Record: Hawaii

In response to

3. What intersecting factors -- social, cultural, political, technological, ecological -- contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustice in this setting? What has produced historic disadvantage?

settler colonialism - Haunani-Kay Trask's concept of "settlers of color" and "immigrant hegemony" (The Mauna Kea Syllabus), Kēhaulani Kauanui's article on enduring indigenity/asserting indigenity as a category of analysis
military-industrial complex + Hawaii as a linchpin of U.S. military interests - Ke'awalau o Pu'uloa (Pearl Harbor) alone has six superfund sites (Cultural Survival)
tourism - functioning hand in hand with militarism. From Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez's book, Securing paradise : tourism and militarism in Hawai'i and the Philippines: "For instance, in both Hawai'i and the Philippines, U.S. military modes of mobility, control, and surveillance enable scenic tourist byways. Past and present U.S. military posts, such as the Clark and Subic Bases and the Pearl Harbor complex, have been reincarnated as destinations for tourists interested in World War II. The history of the U.S. military is foundational to tourist itineraries and imaginations in such sites. At the same time, U.S. military dominance is reinforced by the logics and practices of mobility and consumption underlying modern tourism. Working in tandem, militarism and tourism produce gendered structures of feeling and formations of knowledge. These become routinized into everyday life in Hawai'i and the Philippines, inculcating U.S. imperialism in the Pacific."

University of Hawai'i Resource

ghakim

Annotation of

Environmental Justice Global Record: Hawaii

In response to

1. What is the setting of this case? What are its assets? What opportunities and challenges will there be in this setting in coming years?

The University of Hawai'i has this incredible resource of resistance movements from 1960-2010. The section on militarization, for example, includes resources on issues such as the environmental degradation of Kaho'olawe (used as a target range by the U.S. Navy), evictions in the Mākua Valley, and the construction of the H-3 Highway (and how tourism and militarism function together).

Culture, Energy, Power Collaborative Project Statement

This statement outlines our goals for the Biomass project, what materials we assembled, and our guiding theoretical compasses for analysis of our work during Dr.