Right now, Moloka'i is bursting with community activism aimed at buying Molokai Ranch (which ceased operations in April) and partnering with a wind company to provide clean energy for O'ahu.

But there's a problem: No one seems to be noticing.

Instead, a lot of attention is being paid to a wind-farm proposal offered by Castle & Cooke Inc., owner of the private resort island of Lana'i.

Before a decision on the competing proposals is made, officials and the people of Hawai'i should review Moloka'i's homegrown — if ambitious — plan and consider the benefits to the distressed island's 7,000 residents and the state as a whole. It could be a win-win all around.

Two years ago, Moloka'i community leaders began exploring a partnership with a wind-energy company that would pave the way for the island to supply clean energy to O'ahu. There are vast, wind-swept, undeveloped areas on the island's west end where windmills could generate exportable amounts of energy. As the island closest to O'ahu, Moloka'i is best positioned to transmit this power via undersea cable to Honolulu cost-effectively.

In addition to helping the state reduce its carbon emissions, Moloka'i would itself benefit from this "green" business in significant ways.

First, Boston-based First Wind — which operates a wind farm on Maui and wants to build the Moloka'i wind farm — pledged $50 million toward the purchase of the ranch from its current owner, Guoco Leisure Ltd. of Hong Kong.

Buying the ranch outright has been a goal of the Moloka'i community since 1998, and islanders are working hard to leverage additional funds for a fair purchase price. If Guoco will sell, for the first time in more than a century the people of Moloka'i will be able to shape their island's destiny, free from the resort-development pressures of absentee landlords.

Second, after helping the community purchase the ranch lands, First Wind estimates that annual lease revenues from the wind farm will range from $3 million to $5 million, payable directly to the Moloka'i community entity set up to own the ranch. This amount is more than Moloka'i Ranch's former annual payroll.

These funds could be leveraged to put Moloka'i people to work doing things the community supports, including setting up local alternative energy projects, reforesting the island's watershed, and healing badly overgrazed and eroded ranchlands. Energy for Moloka'i might also be generated by the wind farm itself, through a two-way link into the Honolulu grid.

First Wind has said that it would not restrict community access to the wind-farm area, leaving the lands open to compatible uses, including farming, hunting or even eco-tourism.

Over the past six months, the wind-farm proposal was presented in a series of public meetings held across the island. An overwhelming majority was in favor of the idea.

The wind farm is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the island. It could begin the transformation of Moloka'i into a more self-sufficient community, one that preserves its way of life and environment for future generations.

The people of Moloka'i (the "most Hawaiian" of the Islands) offer a unique spirit of stewardship and a remarkable reservoir of social, cultural and environmental capital. Gov. Linda Lingle and other leaders should take advantage of these assets and help Moloka'i (and with it, the state) take a major step toward rational development and sustainability.

It's time for the media, HECO, and state and county officials to seriously and honestly weigh the overall value of the Moloka'i initiative.

Phil Estermann was a community organizer on Moloka'i in the 1970s. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.