Final response to Howard Cole’s last word

In Mr. Cole’s letter to the media, he delineated about his expertise and cited his undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as his affiliation with the Sierra Club, Audubon, and the Nature’s Conservancy, as well as his experience reflecting several years teaching environmental science and resource management, presumably in the CNMI.

Mr. Cole’s undergraduate degree is in conservation of natural resources and does not qualify him to be an expert regarding the environment. And since Mr. Cole’s master’s degree is in Instructional Technology—which has nothing to do with the environment—then he is clearly far from being an “expert,” let alone an “authority” on the issues surrounding environmental impact reports. Being and purporting to have expertise in an area are two different things.

As far as my academic background is concerned, I hold two advanced degrees: one in Public Administration and the other in Higher Education Administration. My Master of Public Administration focused on urban, state, and federal governance. The thesis I researched and wrote pertained to the “Growth Issue” in a northern California county. However, I have not been “banidosu” and have not proclaimed to be any expert on the subject of environmental impact reports like Howard Cole has done.

What I find to be quite interesting is that Mr. Cole is affiliated with the Sierra Club, Audubon, and Nature’s Conservancy, which are all organizations that espouse the conservation of the environment, as well as animals, and not the antithesis. You would think that anyone who is a member of such groups would take a staunch position in terms of “protecting the environment,” instead of supporting an activity like mining, which will clearly destroy it. It is ironic that Mr. Cole is a member of these organizations yet does not take an adverse position in terms of mining pozzolan on Pagan.

Furthermore, if you take a close look Mr. Cole’s answer to my question, “Should economic, political, and social benefits take precedence over the environment?” he responded with, “As for a simple yes or no answer, that is not possible because there are complex issues that are not in black or white.” Will Mr. Cole please explain to the island community these complex issues?

If Mr. Cole had answered “no” to the question I posed, then there would be consistency with the philosophy of the abovementioned clubs he has membership with. But since his answer was neither an affirmative or negative, then you have to ask yourself if there is a contradiction with his environmental club membership philosophy and what he really thinks about the environment.

Contrary to what Howard Cole thinks, there is absolutely no confusion on my part in terms of the permitting process and the leasing process of pozzolan mining in Pagan, as Mr. Cole insinuated. The focus of my discussion involved the requirement of the EIR and not on when it was supposed to be produced, which Mr. Cole pointed out must be done subsequent to the granting of the lease.

As far as EIR’s are concerned regarding the mining issue on Pagan, the bottom line is that they are necessary and Mr. Cole concurred with me on this point. To nitpick as to when the EIR should be produced reflects thinking that does not see the forest for the trees.

An EIR is required of those who qualify to receive a lease for the isle of Pagan. It is a moot for Mr. Cole to argue about when an EIR is to be produced, while lending support for an organization like Azmar that did not meet the qualifications for the lease in the first place.

Mr. Cole mentioned that on Tinian land leases are obtained and, at times, there is no development that follows. Why would anyone go through the trouble of obtaining a lease and then not do anything in terms of development of the public land on Tinian? Secondly, if the public lands on Tinian are not being developed subsequent to the issuance of a lease, is it because there might be issues involving the formulation and acceptance of an EIR as soon as the development of the land commenced?

Mr. Cole alluded to the financial benefits from mining as a consideration for the financial dilemma that the CNMI is currently faced with. He may not have used financial panacea, but his suggestion that mining might be an answer to the fiscal problems was evident.

If someone in the CNNI walked up to Mr. Cole and asked, “Would you mine Pagan for pozzolan if it meant resolving the financial dilemma that the government is faced with?,” his answer would probably be: “As to a simple yes or no answer, that is not possible because there are complex issues that are not in black or white.

As far as knowing about the CNMI is concerned, I am a descendant of Chamorro ancestors and was brought up with the heritage and culture. I may not be there physically but I do know more about the islands and Chamorro culture than Mr. Cole will ever know because I grew up with the heritage and the blood that runs through my veins is indigenous. To suggest that I know nothing about the islands because I am not there physically is completely absurd.

Being in the CNMI for just 15 years hardly makes Mr. Cole an expert in terms of knowing the islands and understanding what the Chamorro/Carolinian culture is all about. Regardless of how long he stays, he will never be intimately familiar with the island culture of the indigenous peoples.

Moreover, regardless of how long Mr. Cole remains in the CNMI, he will never own the public land on the islands and will never be able to dictate how the lease process should be, as well as what should happen to the environment. My suggestion to Mr. Cole is that he sticks to teaching and let the CNMI government and MPLA make decisions regarding the leases and environment.

Dr. Jesus D. Camacho
Delano, California