Fighting to Protect Wa’ahila Ridge

HHC became very active in the long struggle to protect Wa’ahila Ridge (Manoa, Oahu) from the proposed construction of twenty 138,000 volt power lines. HHC’s founder and president, Mike Gabbard, testified at a public hearing, “to even consider putting this ancient, dinosaur technology on the sacred and precious Wa’ahila Ridge, when there are other options, like underground lines, available is unacceptable.”

Mike organized HHC volunteers statewide to get out on the streets everyday to collect signatures of the many, many members of the general public who also were opposed to the power line construction. In a short amount of time HHC gathered 10,000 signatures on petitions letting the Hawaiian Electric Company know how strongly the Hawaiian community felt about protecting the ridgeline.

Mike Gabbard was so inspired by the beauty of Wa’ahila and the outcrying of the community to protect this resource, that he wrote and recorded Malama O Wa’ahila, which plays when the Healthy Hawaii Coalition website opens. The song became a part of his debut CD, Stand As One.

For more information on the successful fight to protect Wa’ahila Ridge visit www.malamaomanoa.org.

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