Updated at 1:49 p.m., Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Editorial: Legislature needs Superferry special session
Advertiser editorial board
The ideal purpose of a functioning government is to deliver to the people "the best of all possible worlds." Instead, Hawai'i's elected representatives now find themselves at the juncture of choosing the "lesser of two evils."The state's high court underscored that the state administration erred in its finding that an environmental assessment would not be required for the Hawaii Superferry, and today, Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza's ruling made the repercussions of that decision crystal clear.
Cardoza ruled that environmental law does not permit the ferry to continue operations while the assessment is being prepared.
His ruling follows days of court hearings during which company executives stated unequivocally that the Superferry could not afford to idle during the study process and likely would have to leave Hawai'i altogether.
Considering the state's need for alternative transportation options — especially with the current uncertainty in the airlines market — taking steps to keep the Superferry would represent "the lesser of evils."
That's why the Legislature should convene in a special session to pass a law enabling the ferry to continue. There should be room for conditions to be set during the interim, while environmental studies are under way, that could minimize the risks to whales and other resources until the true impact of a full-scale operation could be better understood.
Gov. Linda Lingle plans to meet today with lawmakers in hopes of persuading them to convene.
Carving out exemptions from environmental law is far from good governmental practice, and it's distressing to contemplate doing that in this case. Lawmakers should review the environmental review law next regular session and discuss ways that key decisions could be reviewed administratively, to avert more courtroom battles in the future.
But their focus today should be on the preferred course to take in this case, in which government gave mixed signals to yet another company seeking to do business in Hawai'i. Uprooting the Superferry after the investment to date would send a message that the state would surely regret.
Lawmakers made a similar exception in the Hokuli'a development case. Nobody wanted to exercise that option so soon, but our collective guilty conscience should not deter leaders from making the best of a bad situation.
Cardoza today expressed his hope that "today will serve as a moment of reflection for all of us and recognition of the need for having this community work together."
He may have been addressing those remarks to Superferry's opponents and supporters, but the elected leaders who now must navigate out of this mess should be listening, too.
