Governor Abercrombie's rebuttal seems curious to me.   He claims Kaye doesn't know how to take yes for answer, but as far as I can tell, never claims to have made a statement either publicly or privately to Kaye that he opposed the wind farm on Lana`i.  

Instead, his argument is that he never publicly supported the wind farm.  In effect, he asks the reader to believe his agreement with the FOL position is indicated by his practical decision not to take center stage.

He goes on to claim that there really was no center stage in the public debate over the wind farm proposal, that "practical realities" unrelated to public opposition were, in the end, decisive.  He closes by asking the reader to believe that Kaye had a self-serving motive to occupy center stage.

If I were developing a project in the face of public opposition, I'd welcome public officials willing to make this argument.