Monday, July 6, 2009

'Energy Futures' Addresses Clean Energy Initiative, CFLs, Oil Tax and Solar while Taking a Few Calls

State Energy Administrator Ted Peck and Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter
Director Robert Harris were guests on the inaugural Energy Futures show.
The first broadcast of Hawaii Public Radio’s new public affairs program, Energy Futures, went off “live” at 5 today and ended 59 minutes later, much to the relief of the show’s host.

State Energy Administrator Ted Peck and Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter Director Robert Harris were in agreement on most issues but squared off on the proposed $1 per-barrel tax increase to fund energy initiatives and food security in the islands, among other purposes. Harris favors the tax and Peck’s position is pretty much determined by the Governor’s apparent opposition. She has signaled the possibility of a veto, in which case the Legislature is expected to try to override.

The half dozen calls to the program also were a relief, suggesting that at least six listeners had dialed into the new program – not counting relatives and loyal friends. We’re optimistic about the potential for the show to build an audience and are scheduling guests with that in mind.

The Next Program

Hawaiian Electric Company Executive Vice President Robbie Alm will be the sole guest on the July 13th show. HECO is likely to play a key role in virtually all future Hawaii energy scenarios; the company delivers electricity to about 95 percent of the state’s population.

Listeners can call with questions by dialing 941-3689 from Oahu and 1-877-941-3689 from the neighbor islands – and beyond, for that matter. The program is streamed “live” at Hawaii Public Radio’s website, so if you’re a mainland follower of Hawaii energy issues and have a question for our guest, we’d like to hear from you between 5 and 6 pm HST (11 pm EDT and 8 pm PDT).

2 comments:

  1. Great show! Is it going to be available online?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep. The shows are archived for several weeks before being retired to the digital dustbin. You can download them for permanent keeping.

    ReplyDelete