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President Donald Trump’s decision to step away from the Paris climate change accords has turned into an opportunity for others to step up. Lawmakers in this state passed a bill committing Hawaii to those accords. Read more

President Donald Trump’s decision to step away from the Paris climate change accords has turned into an opportunity for others to step up. Lawmakers in this state passed a bill committing Hawaii to those accords.

Of course, Gov. Jerry Brown of California, a state rivaling some countries in size and economic influence, one-upped us a bit, meeting with China’s president on the issue. Still, due to rising sea levels, Hawaii wins the unfortunate title of Most Likely To Disappear From the Map. So it’s good Gov. David Ige signed the bill and put the islands back on the map, figuratively.

Pearls or not, oysters can prove their value

The two species of oysters the state is growing in Pearl Harbor to filter out pollutants are efficient little water-cleaners — but not likely to produce a wealth of pearls as a side benefit. Even back in the day, the pearls were not the object. Native Hawaiians valued the original oysters because their mother-of-pearl shells produced effective fishhooks. The villagers hunted and fished around the estuary — and yes, they ate the oysters, too. But they threw away any pearls found inside.

Ah, well. If the critters clean up the harbor, they are gems themselves.