SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
kaniela ing
Fears of 'Plantation Disaster Capitalism' Mount in Wake of Maui Fires
"Justice is returning control of public resources like land and water to the people," wrote one activist. "For too long the strings of Maui and thousands of communities like it have been pulled by forces indifferent to their soul."
Aug 23, 2023
As Maui County faces a daunting recovery from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century—with at least 115 confirmed deaths as of Tuesday, around 1,000 people still unaccounted for, and a rebuild expected to cost billions of dollars—fears and fights over land and water are highlighting the long history of colonialism and exploitation in the Hawaiian Islands.
"It's disaster capitalism at its finest," Hokuao Pellegrino, a seventh-generation Native Hawaiian farmer, educator, and president of the nonprofit Hui o Nā Wai 'Ehā, toldCNN in a Monday segment about Maui's current water battles.
Disaster capitalism, as journalist Naomi Klein explained in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine, is "orchestrated raids on the public sphere in the wake of catastrophic events, combined with the treatment of disasters as exciting market opportunities."
Fire spread by hurricane winds earlier this month leveled Lahaina, a Maui tourist destination that was previously the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, before an 1893 coup led by American expatriates and sugar planters. The United States formally annexed the islands in 1898. Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1900 and the 50th state in 1959.
"Disaster capitalism has taken many forms in different contexts," Klein wrote last week in a Guardian column with Kapua'ala Sproat, a University of Hawaii at Manoa law professor and director of the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law.
"It's always a little different, which is why some Native Hawaiians have taken to calling their unique version by a slightly different term: plantation disaster capitalism," the pair continued. "It's a name that speaks to contemporary forms of neocolonialism and climate profiteering, like the real estate agents who have been cold-calling Lahaina residents who have lost everything to the fire and prodding them to sell their ancestral lands rather than wait for compensation. But it also places these moves inside the long and ongoing history of settler colonial resource theft and trickery, making clear that while disaster capitalism might have some modern disguises, it's a very old tactic. A tactic that Native Hawaiians have a great deal of experience resisting."
As Klein and Sproat detailed:
For over a century, water across Maui Komohana, the western region of the island, has been extracted to benefit outside interests: first large sugar plantations and, more recently, their corporate successors. The companies—including West Maui Land Co. (WML) and its subsidiaries, as well as Kaanapali Land Management and Maui Land & Pineapple Inc.—have devoured the island's natural resources to develop McMansions, colonial-style subdivisions, luxury resorts, and golf courses where cane and pineapple once grew.
This historical and modern plantation economy has taken a tremendous toll on water in particular, draining Indigenous ecologies of their natural moisture. Lahaina, once known as the Venice of the Pacific, has been transformed into a parched desert, which is part of what has made it so vulnerable to fire.
A few days after flames tore through Lahaina, Hawaiian state Attorney General Anne Lopez announced a probe into the formal response. Her sweeping investigation includes a five-hour delay in the state Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM)—which is responsible for how much water flows through streams—approving WML's request to fill its private reservoirs that are not connected to local hydrants but the company was willing to make available to firefighters.
The delay was reportedly the result of unsuccessful attempts to reach a farmer of taro—or kalo, a root vegetable sacred to Native Hawaiians—affected by the diversion. Activists and officials have pointed out that wind would have prevented helicopter crews from reaching the WML reservoirs for firefighting. According to the Honolulu Civil Beat, "The company suffered no significant property damage in the fires."
A water official involved with the delay, Kaleo Manuel, was then reassigned to another Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources division—though the DLNR said in a statement last week that the shift was part of an effort "to focus on the necessary work to assist the people of Maui recover from the devastation of wildfires" and "does not suggest that First Deputy Manuel did anything wrong."
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Maui residents Kekai Keahi and Jennifer Kamaho'i Mather argue that the redeployment was illegal, and ask a Hawaii court to void the decision and affirm that any such move must be made in an open meeting to allow public testimony.
Hawaii Public Radioreported Tuesday that while decision has also "prompted serious concerns" from CWRM members, the state attorney general's office claims the case is "wholly without merit" and plans to file a motion to dismiss it.
"One thing that people need to understand especially those from far away is that there's been a great deal of water conflict on Maui for many years," Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said during a press briefing last week. "It's important that we're honest about this. People have been fighting against the release of water to fight fires. I'll leave that to you to explore."
The Democratic governor has faced criticism for the comments and for suspending the "state water code, to the extent necessary to respond to the emergency," through his recent proclamations relating to wildfires.
As the Civil Beatreported:
"No one's trying to oppose the use of water to fight fires," said Isaac Moriwake, an attorney with Earthjustice. "That was unfair for the governor to go there."
The real issue, Moriwake said, is that West Maui Land Co. is trying to use the fire as an excuse to gain control over the region's water supply.
Moriwake points out that Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Dawn Chang has agreed to amend—temporarily—several water regulations, at West Maui Land Co.'s request, pursuant to an emergency declaration related to the fire issued by Green. That included a provision allowing companies like West Maui Land to fill its reservoirs when fire was reported in the area.
"They should stop trying to use this tragedy for cheap advantage," Moriwake said.
Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a former member of the CWRM, also challenged Green's claims about community members fighting against the release of water for firefighting, tellingThe Washington Post that "in my eight years on the water commission, I never heard, in a single hearing, that testimony from anyone in the community."
Lahaina's Native Hawaiian community "has fought for literally generations to seek justice and balance for the streams and the community and other usages," added Beamer, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Center for Hawaiian Studies.
According toThe New York Times:
Wayne Tanaka, director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, said conservationists had supported the use of water for fire reserves. But he said he worried that water companies and large landowners use fire protection as an excuse to hoard water for commercial purposes.
"No one has opposed the need to reserve water for firefighting, but we want to know how much they actually use for that purpose," Mr. Tanaka said.
Sproat made similar remarks in an appearance on
Democracy Now! last week after her column with Klein was published.
"Plantation disaster capitalism, I think, is, unfortunately, the perfect term for what's going on in Maui Komohana, or in West Maui, right now," Sproat said. "The plantations, the large landed interests that have had control over not just the land, but really much of Hawaii's and Maui Komohana's resources for the last several centuries, are using this opportunity, are using this time of tremendous trauma for the people of Maui, to swoop in and to get past the law, basically."
"They're using the emergency proclamation that the governor put into place the day after the fires to, you know, ravage Lahaina, and they're using this as an opportunity to try to get their way, especially with respect to water resources, something they could not achieve when the law and Hawaii's water code, in particular, were in place," she explained.
During a Thursday interview with the Civil Beat, Green "defended his position that government, developers, and environmental and cultural activists need to work together to resolve issues," but also insisted that Lahaina's rebuild "will be done with direct input from fire survivors, the island, and its mayor," and "new construction will be primarily to house locals and not to favor large developers."
A coalition of community members gathered at Maui's Wahikuli Beach Park for a Friday press conference about rebuilding. Keahi—one of the residents behind the suit over Manuel's redeployment—said that "we don't want to hear the governor's office saying that we have a plan for Lahaina because none of us ever got to speak to the governor."
Reporting from the event, Hawaii Public Radioexplained that Nā 'Ohana O Lele—or the Families of Lele, in honor of Lahaina's ancient name—has three demands for Green: "One is to allow the community time to heal before rebuilding. Two is to let Lahaina lead the planning process. And three is to amend the emergency proclamation to ensure Hawaii's open meeting regulation or 'Sunshine Law' remains in full force."
Noting the group's demands, Kaniela Ing, a seventh-generation Native Hawaiian and national director of Green New Deal Network, wrote Monday for The Nation, "The vision is clear: The restoration of Lahaina should be by the community, for the community."
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden traveled to Maui on Monday to tour the destruction and meet first responders and survivors. In a pair of speeches, the president claimed that "we're going to rebuild the way the people of Maui want to build."
"It's time to rebuild this community the way you want it built—the way you want it—so it's still a community, not a group of beautiful homes, but a community," Biden declared at the Lahaina Civic Center, provoking applause from residents impacted by fires.
Still, Hawaiians stress that such words from government officials are not enough—action is also required. Ing wrote Monday that "political and legislative fights lie ahead to ensure that rebuilding efforts steer clear of the pitfalls of external influences, and that resources are channeled to foster local resilience and empowerment."
"True justice doesn't lie merely in acknowledging the climate crisis," he argued. "Justice is returning control of public resources like land and water to the people. It's about recognizing that for too long the strings of Maui and thousands of communities like it have been pulled by forces indifferent to their soul. It's acknowledging that survivors aren't just figures in a news report but the heartbeats of a resilient community that demands its rightful place in shaping its future."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Maui-Bound Biden Urged to Back Hawaiian Cases Against Big Oil, Declare Climate Emergency
"President Biden should unequivocally voice his support for the people of Maui and Honolulu in their efforts to put fossil fuel companies on trial for their climate deception and make polluters pay," said one activist.
Aug 18, 2023
As President Joe Biden prepares to visit Maui next week amid Hawaiian wildfires that have prompted a federal disaster declaration, he faces fresh calls to declare a national climate emergency and support a pair of local lawsuits against the planet-wrecking fossil fuel industry.
The lawsuits against Big Oil were filed in 2020 by Oahu's City and County of Honolulu as well as Maui County—where a fire last week killed at least 111 people, caused over $5 billion in damage, and devastated Lahaina, the former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Both complaints highlight how rising global temperatures are making fires on the islands worse.
"Hawaii communities are on the frontlines of the fight to hold Big Oil companies accountable for knowingly increasing the risks of deadly wildfires and other climate disasters," Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), said Friday. "President Biden should unequivocally voice his support for the people of Maui and Honolulu in their efforts to put fossil fuel companies on trial for their climate deception and make polluters pay for the damage they have caused."
The Supreme Court of Hawaii on Thursday heard oral arguments for the fossil fuel industry's attempts to dismiss the Honolulu case. After the hearing, Matthew Gonser, chief resilience officer and executive director of Honolulu's Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency, said: "We appreciate today's thorough inquiry and remain confident in the strength of our case. We look forward to the court's forthcoming decision as we continue to litigate the case and move toward trial."
Just ahead of the hearing, CCI declared that "the deadly fires in Maui underscore how urgent it is to make polluters pay for fueling the climate crisis," and "the people of Honolulu and Maui deserve their day to put Big Oil on trial."
Wiles added Friday that "simply connecting the deadly Maui fires and other recent disasters to climate change is not enough; it's time for President Biden to make clear to the American people that the oil and gas industry must be held accountable for their lies and pollution that continue to fuel the climate crisis."
Whether Biden will take a position on the Hawaiian climate cases is hard to predict, given his administration's mixed messages on such litigation. While the U.S. Department of Justice in March backed Colorado communities suing Big Oil, the DOJ has also recently claimed in a federal court filing for the youth-led case Juliana v. United States that "there is no constitutional right to a stable climate system."
The president and First Lady Jill Biden are scheduled to visit Maui on Monday. According to the White House, the Bidens "will be welcomed by state and local leaders to see firsthand the impacts of the wildfires and the devastating loss of life and land that has occurred on the island, as well as discuss the next steps in the recovery effort."
The historic blaze that spread rapidly because of winds from Hurricane Dora and ultimately leveled Lahaina has sparked national conversations about the climate emergency. Scientists have long warned that producing planet-heating emissions with human activities like fossil fuel use will make fires and hurricanes more devastating.
The wreckage and early assessments of what rebuilding requires have also generated fears among locals about more exploitation from rich outsiders—continuing a long trend in the Hawaiian Islands, which were annexed by the United States in 1898 and became the 50th state in 1959.
Kaniela Ing, national director of the Green New Deal Network and a seventh-generation Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) from Maui, wrote Thursday for TIME that "it felt like Goddess Papahānaumoku—Earth Mother, herself—raging at humanity's hubris. The disturbing silence left by the missing and the mourned souls tells of a disaster that's unnatural, shaped by the human hand—a byproduct of the dangerous dance between climate change and centuries of colonial greed."
"My greatest fear is that this trajectory of exploitation will continue in the recovery from the Maui wildfires," he continued. "As whispers of reshaping Lahaina emerge, with wealthy developers eager to mold it to their vision, our generation's vision for social and environmental justice grows even firmer. Our recovery from the wildfires can't just be about combating climate change—it has to be about returning control of our cherished lands to the people who hold them dear."
"At the national level, it's past time for President Biden to officially recognize the climate crisis by declaring a climate emergency," added Ing, a former state legislator. "This would enable him to halt the destructive fossil fuel production driving these disasters. Furthermore, substantial federal investments on the scale of trillions are required to prevent catastrophes like this one in the future and prioritize the welfare of working families in mitigation and recovery efforts."
The Hawaiian fires are part of a summer of unprecedented heat that scientists already concluded "would have been virtually impossible" without the burning of fossil fuels—conditions that have inspired other demands for a climate emergency declaration.
The Center for Biological Diversity last year released a report detailing all that Biden could do if the heeded those calls. Report co-author Jean Su said at the time that "declaring a climate emergency isn't a catchphrase, it's a vital suite of actions to protect people and the planet from this crisis."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Amid Maui Fire Devastation, Big Oil Tries to Kill Hawaii Climate Lawsuit
"The people of Honolulu and Maui deserve their day to put Big Oil on trial," said the Center for Climate Integrity.
Aug 17, 2023
As the Hawaiian island of Maui is reeling from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century, the Hawaii Supreme Court on Thursday is set to hear fossil fuel giants' request to dismiss a climate liability lawsuit filed by the City and County of Honolulu on Oahu.
Honolulu leaders sued companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Sunono in March 2020. Just seven months later, Maui County followed suit, launching a case against those and other Big Oil firms. Both complaints mention worsening wildfires.
"The average air temperature in the city is currently warming at a rate that is approximately four times faster than the warming rate 50 years ago," the Honolulu complaint states. "Warming air temperatures have led to heatwaves, expanded pathogen and invasive species ranges, thermal stress for native flora and fauna, increased electricity demand, increased occurrence and intensity of wildfire, threats to human health such as from heat stroke and dehydration, and decreased water supply due to increased evaporation and demand."
The Maui filing explains that "wildfires are becoming more frequent, intense, and destructive in the county. As climate changes, stronger El Niño events become more frequent. El Niños alter Hawaii's weather patterns, bringing wetter summers which in turn provide prime conditions for fast-growing grasses and invasive species, followed by prolonged periods of drought and hotter average temperatures, which desiccate vegetation thereby increasing the fuel available for fires."
"The county's fire 'season' now runs year-round, rather than only a few months of the year," the 2020 document adds. "In 2019, called the 'year of fire' on Maui, 26,000 acres burned in the County—more than six times the total area burned in 2018."
Three years after the filings, the Northern Hemisphere is enduring a summer of unprecedented heat that scientists say "would have been virtually impossible" without the burning of fossil fuels, and Lahaina, the former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, was leveled last week in a Maui County fire that killed at least 106 people—a death toll expected to rise, with over 1,000 missing—and caused over $5 billion in damage.
Denise Antolini, a retired University of Hawaii law professor and supporter of the plaintiffs, toldThe Guardian that the fires affecting the 50th U.S. state "underscore the importance" of climate liability suits, which seek damages from fossil fuel giants.
The Honolulu case calls out the companies for "their introduction of fossil fuel products into the stream of commerce knowing, but failing to warn of, the threats posed to the world's climate; their wrongful promotion of their fossil fuel products and concealment of known hazards associated with the use of those products; their public deception campaigns designed to obscure the connection between their products and global warming and the environmental, physical, social, and economic consequences flowing from it; and their failure to pursue less hazardous alternatives."
Antolini said that "if the truth had been known about climate change, if the truth had been allowed to be known by Big Oil, Hawaii might have had a different future," telling the newspaper that while the climate emergency isn't the sole cause of this summer's fires, it "set the table" for the destruction.
Thursday's hearing before the state Supreme Court "is an incredibly important milestone in the case because it determines whether or not the case will proceed to discovery, to further motions, and to trial," she added. "So it's a go or no-go point."
The high court's hearing for the Honolulu case is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am local time and will be livestreamed on YouTube.
"The deadly fires in Maui underscore how urgent it is to make polluters pay for fueling the climate crisis," the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) said Thursday. "The people of Honolulu and Maui deserve their day to put Big Oil on trial."
As for the Maui case, Emily Sanders, CCI's editorial lead, wrote for ExxonKnews on Tuesday:
Maui spent years defeating the industry's numerous attempts to move the case out of state court, where it was originally filed. The county is now awaiting a decision from a judge that could make it the third community—after Honolulu and Massachusetts—to enter the pretrial phase of a climate accountability lawsuit against Big Oil. That means the people of Maui would be one step closer to their rightful day in court to hold fossil fuel companies accountable.
Another ongoing Hawaiian climate case was launched last year by youth from the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, and Oahu against the Hawaii Department of Transportation and its director, the governor, and the state.
"While in many ways Hawaii has been a leader in recognizing and setting goals to address the climate emergency, progress is slow because of the unconstitutional, and uncooperative, actions of the state Department of Transportation," said Andrea Rodgers, senior litigation attorney at Our Children's Trust and co-counsel for the youth plaintiffs, at the time.
Our Children's Trust also represents youth plaintiffs for a similar constitutional climate case in which a Montana judge on Monday sided with 16 young residents who claimed that the state violated their rights by promoting fossil fuel extraction. Julia Olson, founder of the nonprofit law firm, called the ruling "a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation's efforts to save the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular