TMT in Hawaii in the Past Tense?

As blog readers will know from numerous previous posts on this blog, the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) project on Hawaii has been subject to numerous delays, protests, and political roadblocks. It comes up from time to time at the Regents, particularly in public comments, but also in direct discussions.

The outgoing president of the U of Hawaii, David Lassner, recently reflected on the project:

"TMT (the Thirty Meter Telescope proposed for Hawai‘i Island’s Maunakea) was hard for me personally. I’d say it really divided many people inside the university and I had a lot of friends who were very disappointed in me for supporting TMT. I have no qualms about my belief that it would have been good for Hawai‘i. I got a death threat on social media. We had students peacefully occupying our building (Bachman Hall). When they moved out of their own volition, it felt empty. But I learned a lot. It was really hard seeing the pain that was caused and would have been caused in either direction."

Source: https://www.hawaiibusiness.com/university-hawaii-president-steps-down-david-lassner-interview-2024/.

The phrase it would have been good for Hawai‘i suggests he considers the project - at least in Hawaii - to be dead.