Hawaii Official May Have Delayed Releasing Water As Fires Raged Because Of 'Equity' Concerns

The devastating fires in Hawaii may have been exacerbated by a local officials’ commitment to left wing politics.

Reports from Maui have suggested that M. Kaleo Manuel, the former deputy director of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management, waited for over five hours to release water during the height of the fires.

READ: IT’S TIME TO ASK WHY MAUI OFFICIALS SCREWED UP THE WILDFIRE RESPONSE SO BADLY

Why would anyone potentially do something so unimaginably inexcusable?

Well because they’re concerned about the nonsensical concept of “equity,” of course!

Manuel spoke on a live stream last year about how to manage water and resources, and reaffirmed his commitment to putting progressive ideology first in his job.

“Let water connect us and not divide us,” Manuel said according to the New York Post. “We can share it, but it requires true conversations about equity…How do we coexist with the resources we have?”

If that sounds stupid, reductive, and childish, that’s because it is.

Political Ideology Having Real World Consequences In Hawaii

Manuel, whose association with the Obama foundation appeared to be his only qualification, has since been transferred out of his post after his disastrous mishandling.

According to a letter sent by the West Maui Land Company, Manuel’s agency refused to divert streams to help supply reservoirs in Lahaina until the fires were out of control.

It’s unclear if that denial was due to “equity” concerns, but it couldn’t have helped.

“We watched the devastation around us without the ability to help,” the company said in a letter. “We anxiously awaited the morning knowing that we could have made more water available to MFD if our request had been immediately approved.”

The ridiculous devotion to “equity,” attempting to force equal outcomes instead of equal opportunities, has become a hallmark of progressive political ideology. And it’s had real world consequences in education, corporate decision making and during the pandemic.

Now we learn it may have played a role in an exacerbating a disaster that cost over 100 people their lives. Awful.