Ira Rohter talked about sustainability, eco-tourism and other "green" concepts decades before others began doing so in Hawaii.

Rohter, one of the founding members of the Green Party of Hawaii and a University of Hawaii political science professor, died yesterday. He was 69.

A UH professor since 1968, Rohter was among those who started the local Green Party in 1991.

Former Big Island Councilwoman Keiko Bonk said that the mainstream public is only now beginning to discuss issues that Rohter and the Green Party were pushing as part of its platform in the early 1990s.

Rohter was one of the first to recognize that economics, the environment and the social good were all part of the same equation, said Bonk, the first Green Party member in the U.S. to gain elected office when she won a seat on the Hawaii County Council in 1992.

That same year, Rohter published "A Green Hawaii: Sourcebook for Development Alternatives," which offered analysis and solutions for sustainable development advocates and government policymakers in Hawaii and the Pacific.

"Ira was a social scientist, so he thought about all those connections," Bonk said, adding that Rohter was pleased to see in his classes that a new generation was beginning to take up these causes.

For years, Rohter was actively involved in public policy issues dealing with social justice, environmentalism, and community economic well-being.

Richard Port, chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i in the mid-1990s, said Rohter was an influential figure who will be missed in local politics.

Not only was Rohter active in "green" and environmental issues, he was a strong proponent of transparency in government, Port said.

"He was up there consistently voicing his concern that government be as open as possible," Port said.

Most recently, he served as the president of the Hawaii Clean Elections project and as a vice president of the Hawaii Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.

Rohter earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1967, according to his Web site.

Rohter leaves his wife, Karen; daughter, Shahna, and son, Alon; sister, Sharlene; and brother, Lawrence.

Karen Rohter said her husband died of a massive infection after returning from a camping trip to Oregon and Idaho.