My good friend Ken Stokes is taking a big step and offering to run for the board of Directors for KIUC. That's the "people-owned" electric company on Kauai, a county that has some of the highest electricity costs in America. Ken is a Stanford grad and longtime proponent of greening Kauai. You sometimes see me link to Ken's sustainability of Hawaii blog 

Here's Ken's latest press release:

Kauaian Institute director Ken Stokes today announced plans to run for a seat on the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative board of directors.
The green economist and sustainability advocate said his goal is three-fold: to push for 100% renewable energy as soon as possible as cheaply as possible.

“With Kauai’s abundance of green energy resources, we have an opportunity to switch away from fossil fuels while dramatically reducing our energy costs,” he said.

Stokes applauded the forward-thinking 15-year strategic plan released in December. However, he was critical of the board’s passive approach to achieve energy independence.

He pointed to the continuing reliance on “purchase power agreements” from energy generation created by others, and noted that no new proposals have been forthcoming in recent months.

“KIUC must be prepared to develop its own energy generation”, said Stokes

Since November, the board has followed an informal policy to speak with one voice to media, through either the chair or the president.

Votes are typically unanimous, and heated or discordant discussion of action items is rare at the public meetings.

Sullivan added that meaningful change will require the cooperation of residents, who need to be more involved if they are going to accept the energy-related challenges ahead.

“We the people need to really recognize just how serious our energy situation is and really embrace it,” he said. “It’s not as simple as putting up (photovoltaics) and wind panels.”

------------------------------------------

Ken is also a statistician and his statistical analysis of demographics and trends is used by many in the state of Hawaii including Kamehameha Schools to whom Ken consults. See what i mean by looking at Ken's latest post on KIUC emissions .

I think it will take forward thinking, environmentally sensitive people like Ken to make our island and state more conscious of the importance of sustainability in our lifetime.

Here's a picture of Ken Stokes on his "green" electric bike which he uses to travel around the island and do his part in reducing toxic emissions from fossile burning fuels.