EDITORIAL
Harris sets a bright agenda for Honolulu

Jeremy Harris kept his eye firmly — and appropriately — on the municipal ball in his eighth, and perhaps final, State of the City speech yesterday at City Hall.

Harris is gearing up his campaign for governor, and he might have been expected to spend much of his rhetorical strength yesterday recounting the accomplishments and triumphs of those past eight years. And there was a fair portion of modest crowing in the speech.

But for the most part, it was a forward-looking speech that set goals and aspirations for the City and County of Honolulu that should last long beyond Harris' tenure. It was an ambitious agenda that would put Honolulu firmly on the map as a leading center of environmental good sense and sustainable development within the Pacific Basin.

In some ways, it was for Harris a return to roots. He began his political career as an environmentalist. While much of his day-to-day responsibilities cover mundane but important matters of municipal management, he still wants Honolulu to be known as a place where environmentalism is on the cutting edge.

In typical style, Harris framed his dreams and ideas in down-to-earth practical style, talking of sewage sludge, recycling, urban planning and other elements of hands-on municipal administration that he clearly enjoys mastering.

Harris announced bold plans for a variety of recycling proposals that would make use of much of the refuse stream that today ends up in landfill. Methane from sewage plants would be converted to electricity; garbage would be sorted, and portions would be converted to hydrogen energy.

Harris did not say what all this 21st-century environmental technology would cost. But he is correct in his implication that in the long term, Honolulu simply has no choice. The environmental and carrying costs of not dealing with our waste will eventually become overwhelming.

Then, too, if Honolulu develops a reputation as a cutting-edge location for environmental technology, we can export (or "sell," if you wish) our expertise and technology to the rest of the Pacific Basin.

There's a good bet that some eyebrows shot up around town in response to Harris' plan to preserve agricultural open space on O'ahu. He said he will propose legislation that "locks in" some 87,000 acres of land for agricultural use "in perpetuity." The political and financial costs of this idea could be daunting.

In all, it was an ambitious and inspiring agenda and vision for Honolulu and its people. If Harris does indeed quit his mayoral job to run for governor, he will leave behind a terrific amount of work for his successor.