Editor’s note: Today is the second article in a series of profiles on the candidates running in the KIUC board of director’s election set for March 22. The profiles will run one each day until all six candidates have been
Editor’s note: Today is the second article in a series of profiles on the candidates running in the KIUC board of director’s election set for March 22. The profiles will run one each day until all six candidates have been profiled. To read how candidates answered a set of questions posed by The Garden Island, go to www.kauaiworld.com
Despite an overwhelming task with dire consequences, Lawai resident Ben Sullivan remains undaunted as he advocates broader community dialogue and greatly accelerated transition to clean renewables on Kaua‘i.
After serving three years as chair of Apollo Kaua‘i, a leading community group fighting for energy alternatives, he now seeks one of the nine seats on the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative Board of Directors to continue this effort.
“We have an urgent situation today and we need people on the board who understand that, and treat it as such,” he said in an interview last week. “The people of Kaua‘i cannot afford a slow, incremental approach to this problem and that is the approach currently being proposed by the co-op board.”
The co-op knows that oil prices will continue to rise and, along with it, electricity rates will likely double again in the next 10 years, Sullivan said, possibly sooner.
At the same time, we can expect the cost of just about everything to rapidly rise with it. Milk now costs $8 per gallon, gas is set to jump again this spring and tourist dollars are drying up with the recession on the Mainland, he said.
“The challenges our community faces in meeting its energy needs are enormous,” he said.
A husband and father of three young children, Sullivan first came to Kaua‘i in 1990 and returned after completing his education in Boulder, Colo. He bestows all credit to his family for his motivation as a community leader and volunteer.
With an environmental design degree, Sullivan draws up “green” buildings to pay the bills. Outside of work, he splits his time between playing with his kids, tending his vegetable garden or fixing something around the house.
In 2005, Sullivan helped found the grassroots group Apollo Kaua‘i, which focuses on reducing oil dependence and greehouse gas emissions on the Garden Isle. He has stepped down as chair in preparation for the hundreds of hours required of a director.
Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i, has said he leans on this group for advice when crafting bills at the state Legislature.
While fearful of the pace of decline on the island and planet, Sullivan said he remains inspired by the “infinite number of simple and beautiful solutions to our local and global challenges.”
His work has involved organinzing dozens of monthly educational meetings on wide-ranging energy issues from transportation to waste management.
Sullivan said he rallied the community to reject the use of coal for electricity generation, something KIUC recently considered.
He has also organized several major educational events, including the Zero Waste Conference last spring and the L.E.G.S. Conference last October. Both involved pulling in experts from the islands to educate residents on how to live more sustainably.
“My vision for KIUC is of an organization that leads the Kaua‘i community toward a sustainable energy future. My vision for KIUC is that of an organization that helps us all recognize that we need to make sweeping changes in our community with regards to energy, both in how we use it and how we make it,” he said. “Our co-op can help us to not fear these changes, but instead embrace them because great opportunity will come along in our transformation. My vision for KIUC is that of an organization that will strengthen our already powerful community and contribute to the betterment of our Island for future generations of Kauaians.”
