Stevie Kathryn Chung
Non-partisanQ1 As energy prices continue to increase in Hawaiʻi, what role, if any, should alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and liquefied natural gas, play in Hawaiʻi’s future energy mix? What policies would you support related to alternative energy development, regulation, and/or research, and why?
“The role they should play is near primary. When I say that I am all in on net zero energy goals, I mean tackling more ethical and sustainable energy plans that act to protect and sustain future generations from their basic needs becoming an overpriced commodity. The federal government and private companies want to put us into a chokehold where we cant seek sustainable alternatives while the fuel shortages are already hitting us where it hurts. All the while wind moves, water rushes, hydrogen reacts, and many other forms of energy have been used to create clean perpetual energy in the climates that suit them, with the battery power to store them. I see no reason why we can’t have these solutions here on Maui in spite of the corperations that seek to prevent them.”
KEYWORDS: clean, free, renewable, ethical, sustainable
Q2 Every county has faced a major disaster in the last decade, with more and more happening each year. What is your concrete plan to adapt to a world with more volatile, climate-driven risks and protect our communities?
“Hard and soft infrastructure are a delicate balance. Without planting natives onto the shorelines, the beaches will continue to erode instead of grow. If the dunes dont become restored, tsunamis and typhoons will continue to tear away at the coastline. They put in hard infrastructure with concrete flood basins but the refugee camp got flooded anyhow. If we’re not doing the proper restoration efforts, the island will never become resilient to the natural disasters. I also am pushing for architectural methods that are more sustainable, cost effective, and organic in shape to take on any force of wind thrown at it. Think Arcosanti, cob housing, cellular lightweight concrete and fibreglass. Homes that are engineering marvels built to last generations.”
KEYWORDS: the climate is underprotected and deeply threatened
Q3 While data centers can be important facilities for processing, transferring, and storing data, there are growing concerns about data centers’ environmental impacts and health repercussions. What policies, if any, would you support to balance technological and economic growth with infrastructure reliability, environmental sustainability, and the preservation of land and water? For example, Bill 170 from Hawaiʻi County proposes to ban AI data centers and distinguish them from standard data processing facilities; should other counties follow suit?
“Every billionaire pushing for a datacenter is a dweeb, and any politicians supporting them have no spine. Period. The people who are pushing ai datacenters have shown us time and time again who they really are, everyone needs to stop pretending they want anything good for this generation or any generation to follow.”
KEYWORDS: gross, invasive, volatile, anti human, unethical, Bond Villain type bs, full of semiprecious metals
Q4 Across the Hawaiʻi’s Public School System, a little more than 40% of students achieved math and science proficiency in the 2024-2025 school year. However, access to these opportunities varies across the state due to factors such as geography, school resources, and program availability. What policies do you support to expand equitable access to high-quality STEM and general education for students across Hawaiʻi, such as the use of AI in the classroom, increasing public funding, and more support for extracurricular activities?
“Absolutely. Extracurricular activities and stem programs are vital to raising kids with amazing critical thinking and problem solving skills, as well as fostering creative curiosity! We can even go pre-k with it. MEO has a Math and Science STEM program here on Maui that I wholeheartedly support in their efforts to teach engineering and robotics to the keiki.”
KEYWORDS: Fun, explorative, educational, and a vital tool to teach
Q5 Hawaiʻi faces unique obstacles in its transportation infrastructure, with inter-island travel, ports, and many rural communities. How can we balance environmentally sustainable technologies (such as sustainable aviation fuel, electric or hybrid vehicles, public transit options like the bus or rail) with equity for different communities?
“As someone who doesnt drive, and lives deep in country, public transport here on Maui needs a bit of help. Especially as fuel costs are projected to increase dramatically, people will need alternative methods of transportation to their workplace and for basic errands. Electric busses are rad, especially when they have a solar roof on them, I want to bring the train back but that may have to be for another election cycle unless I can get the rest of the council on board, and for aviation, i dont know how soon it will be before drone-like people movers become available but for now I’m worried about the affordability of air travel and the effects that it may have on the locals who may be travelling to the Continental United States or interisland. Hopefully seeking [better] sustainable energy alternative initiatives in the home and on commercial lots, we can help decrease the amount of strain and necessity for diesel.”
KEYWORDS: necessary