Tonga Sees Energy Independence in Washington State’s Old Tires

The king of Tonga, a banana-exporting South Pacific island nation with 443 cars, wants all the tires Washington state can spare.

Not to put them on cars, but to burn them.

King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV sees mounds of rubber as the answer to his kingdom’s quest for energy independence and is pounding on the governor’s door to cut a deal.

Washington state has an estimated 30 million old tires, which pose a major fire and environmental hazard that grows by 4 million to 5 million tires a year, officials say. But so far, the state has been cool to the king’s idea.

The king wants the state to spend $25.5 million up front to gather, chip and ship the 30 million tires to his kingdom, a group of islands about 3,000 miles southwest of Hawaii. He also wants a guaranteed supply of old tires.

By taking the tires off the state’s hands, the deal would “lay a sound base for future trade and commercial development projects” with Tonga, the king told Gov. Booth Gardner in a recent letter.

The king requested a meeting with the governor by month’s end, but a spokesman said today Gardner is too busy to meet anytime soon.

“Besides, we want to be sure and be fair,” said Dan Youmans. “We are expecting other proposals by February on handling waste tires. It wouldn’t look right to meet with just the king.”

The king’s proposal and a similar request from the South Pacific island of Yap are drawing opposition from environmentalists, who contend Washington’s waste problem should not be exported to the Third World.

“Burning tires is an environmentally disastrous idea,” said Joe Thornton, a toxics information specialist for Greenpeace International in Chicago.