Word: wao
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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...well has been drilled). Even the most grandiose plan, which would generate 500 MW of electricity, would require only 142 hectares (350 acres). And while that would necessarily destroy some native plants and animals, at least one team of scientists from the University of Hawaii has concluded that Wao Kele O Puna has long since ceased to be pristine. Invaded by pigs, cats, mongooses and exotic plants brought to Hawaii in waves of immigration over hundreds of years, the forest is considered inferior to adjacent areas as an undisturbed natural biological laboratory...
...along with such national organizations as the Rainforest Action Network, the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, call the geothermal project unsafe and unnecessary. Moreover, they argue, the drilling rigs, power plants, transmission lines and roads in the plan will harm or destroy tracts of the precious Wao Kele O Puna rain forest. Even native Hawaiian religious groups oppose the scheme, claiming that it will rob the volcano-dwelling goddess Pele of body heat...
...issues in Hawaii's history, pitting scientist against scientist and triggering demonstrations bigger than anything the state has seen since the Vietnam War. Last week trials began for 119 protesters hauled off in handcuffs in March for trying to block the gates at the test drilling site in the Wao Kele O Puna forest. Smaller-scale protests have been taking place sporadically since then...
...Another objection is that using the total area of cleared forest land to measure environmental damage is misleading. The roads that connect cleared areas are also destructive, since they provide avenues along which species from one area can invade another (plant seeds, for example, can stick to vehicle tires). Wao Kele O Puna may not be the most pristine forest in Hawaii, but just 10% of the state's original lowland rain forest remains intact. The forest is still home to animals, such as the Hawaiian hawk and the happy-face spider, which are found only in the islands...