A weak visitor industry, rising fuel costs and a slowing economy may be just the motivation that Kaua‘i needs to get moving on “green” solutions to help the island become sustainable and independent, speakers and political insiders said yesterday.

For Keone Kealoha, executive director of Malama Kaua‘i, there’s no longer a choice in the matter.

“If we start getting local with our food system, that’s green jobs. If we start getting local with our energy system, that’s green jobs. If we start diversifying into green building, recycling, our waste systems, county composting facilities, those are all green jobs. Mass transit, the bus system, more green jobs,” Kealoha said at the “GreenForAll” Kukakuka at Grove Farm Park in Puhi, part of the nationwide Green Jobs Now National Day of Action. “We can take care of ourselves.”

Sustainability and independence were on the minds of other attendees, too.

April Capil, a volunteer with Malama Kaua‘i and an alumnus of the “Green MBA” program at Dominican University in California said Kaua‘i could be a model for other cities and countries.

“We have a luxury in that we’re an island, and we have a border, so we know where our influence stops,” Capil said. “I think that we are so dependent on outside help, but for hundreds of years, this island didn’t need any outside help to feed and clothe and shelter itself.”

Other guest speakers included Glenn Hontz of the Office of Continuing Education and Training for Kaua‘i Community College, Ben Sullivan of Apollo Kaua‘i and Beth Tokioka of the county’s Office of Economic Development.

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(Source: Michael Levine, Kauai Garden island News)