Spending $3 billion to $4 billion a year for imported oil doesn't make sense for Hawai'i. The cost of imported oil continues to escalate and will not stop or level off until or unless Hawai'i transitions to local, renewable energy production capacity.

Hawai'i also spends $4 billion a year for food imports. Without continuous imports, Hawai'i's average food supply is about one week. The cost of the food, most of which is produced with oil-based fertilizers, plus transshipment costs to Hawai'i, will also continue to increase.

Hawai'i must begin to deal with the issues of increasing food costs and decreasing security of supply, or suffer energy and food supply disruptions.

Hawaiian Electric's efforts to accelerate conversion to renewable biofuels makes sense for Hawai'i's environment and economy. Construction of a biodiesel refinery will create a local market for energy crops.

Revitalizing Hawai'i's renewable energy and agricultural production requires changes in land use and water use regulations and new water storage and transport infrastructure.

Hawai'i's renewable energy potential includes wind, solar, wave, deep water cooling, thermal, algae, hydrogen and potentially several biofuel crops. Hawai'i also has 11 of the 13 bio regions on the planet and potentially can grow almost every type of food, including freshwater and ocean fish farming. In 10 years, Hawai'i could achieve a level of energy and food self-reliance that could put us among the leaders in sustainability.

Think what would be possible in Hawai'i if the governor, Legislature and Public Utilities Commission encouraged Hawaiian Electric to concentrate on building a 21st-century transmission system to integrate distributed renewable production into the main grid on every island and to reduce dependence on oil-based production facilities. Think what would be possible if, rather than spending the next decade in fits and starts at renewable energy production and food self-reliance, Hawai'i took action to achieve a foundation of energy and food security.

All of us would benefit. There would be abundant opportunities for new renewable energy and local food producers.

More than $7 billion is now exported annually for fuel and food imports. If that were to be invested locally for renewable energy and food, every dollar invested in Hawai'i would have a value of $2 to $3 as it passed through the economy. This could create a steady stream of new companies and jobs, new wealth, and a new tax base for government. In a decade, Hawai'i could transition from one of the most vulnerable to one of the most secure and sustainable economies.

Think of the opposite scenario that confronts us. We go slow, we create half measures that don't result in widespread new production of local fuel and food.

If we wait until terrorists blow up vulnerable oil pipelines, major oil refineries or a shipping port, gasoline won't be $3.50 a gallon, it will be at least $5 a gallon — if we can get it.

The cost of everything will escalate in proportion to the price of oil. There will be fewer tourists, fewer customers in retail establishments and every business will be less viable in terms of profits and employment stability. Tax revenue will decline significantly and the need for investment in infrastructure and public support would increase proportionally.

These scenarios are somewhere between possible and inevitable if we wait or go slow.

It's time to: