Emma+B's+2015+OpEd+Article




 * T **** he Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT). ** An 18 ½ - story building which will observe atop Mauna Kea - an extraordinary summit found on the big island of Hawai'i.

Gordon Moore, founder of INTEL and one of TMT’s major funders, says it **offers “… the potential to transform the study of the universe.”** Construction begins spring 2015.

With its 13 existing telescopes, Mauna Kea offers an ideal vantage point for viewing the night sky - almost entirely free of light pollution in the middle of the Pacific ocean and standing 13,800 feet above sea level.


 * But when is the astronomy industry going to realize that Mauna Kea is not at its disposal? **

Environmentally, the summit is indispensable. Measured from its base beneath the ocean, Mauna Kea lifts 33,000 feet upward... the **tallest mountain to grace the Earth**. Also, the **largest fresh water aquifer** for Hawai'i Island resides on Mauna Kea and (come 2015) so will a 5,000-gallon container designated for chemical waste from the project. Risky, for, in the event of an accident, the island's watershed and ecosystem will be irreversibly compromised.

Culturally, spiritually, and religiously, the summit is indispensable. Not that the American general public often cares about Hawaiian interests, but the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) once valued Mauna Kea as **sacred grounds**. After allowing the construction of a single telescope over 40 years ago, Hawaiians have clearly struggled to protect their mountain from further exploitation. Native Hawaiian documentarian Alice Kaiulani Milham speculates, "Now [Mauna Kea is] also a symbol of **cultural erasure and the ongoing assault** on Hawaiian spiritual and religious practices and rights to self-determination."

The TMT project is backed by the financial power of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the University of California system, the California Institute of Technology, and the astronomy industries of India, China, Japan and Canada. They have millions of dollars to invest in public relations. **They can and will print yellow journalism**, but **we will print right back**.


 * Mauna Kea is not disposable to the astronomy industry. So why don't we stop acting like it? **