A group of legislators introduced a dozen bills to protect Hawaii’s environment at the start of the 2022 legislative session. Most of the bills are dead, as a deadline was passed last week.
Five of the bills that were proposed by the Environmental Legislative Caucus remain in force, including one that was voted down.Call for a studyTo find ways to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere set deadlines for state buildingsTo create cost-effective energy efficiency measures create a pilot programTo preserve forests and farm lands intact, and to initiate a healthy soil program.
Last year, Hawaii was the first state in the world to declare a climate emergency. This prompted legislators and policy makers to develop concrete initiatives. There were many options available to address the complex and growing climate crisis, but priorities differed.
Bills that were proposed to repeal the Constitution were among those that failed.green amendmentThe state constitution gives people the right to a healthy environment. Temporary income tax creditOn cesspool upgrades Limits on wastewater systems to be removedProtection of Land uses that could cause harm to endangered speciesCreation of a To mitigate the effects, refundable income tax creditTaxes on carbon emissions.
Existing environmental laws can be amended until April 6to be approved by their final commissions. Once the bills have been cleared, they will be sent to either the full House or the Senate for a final voting. The bills will then go back to the original chambers for another round.
Sen. Mike Gabbard, who co-chairs the caucus, was disappointed by the number of the caucus measures surviving so far, citing the Rolling Stones’ famous line, “You can’t always get what you want.”
The most recent bill that was defeated would have created an impact fee program within Department of Land and Natural Resources. Senate Bill 3192This was part of the caucus packages and aimed to protect Hawaii’s natural resources against the impact of tourists visiting state parks beaches, hiking trails and forests.
Rep. Richard Onishi is the chairman of the House Labor and Tourism Committee and said that he did not give the bill a hearing and was opposed to green fees. He stated that he was concerned about the lack of a process to set fees and that stakeholders wouldn’t be able to have input into how the funds are spent.
Onishi stated that he doesn’t know if overtourism is the problem. Resource management should be the issue. If the resource is managed properly, we can have 20,000,000 people.
Rep. Sylvia Luke (chair of the House Finance Committee) said that hundreds more bills are moving through the legislative system. She added that bills on clean transportation, and achieving zero emission, are still alive.
“When you deal with the climate crisis, it’s not just transportation and fossil fuels, it’s dealing with sea level rise and dealing with mitigation,” Luke said. “It’s not just one thing.”
Luke said the Legislature has not come up with any concrete way to “meet our renewable energy goals on a timely basis.”
She stated that the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee Chair Rep. Nicole Lowen would have made that happen. It would have required that greenhouse gas emissions in the state be reduced by 70% by 2030 from 2005 levels.
Lowen said that Hawaii has already reached one goal, namely to reduce carbon emissions below the 1990 level by 2020. Her House Bill 1800The caucus package included a part that would have updated the goal.
First, the bill was amended to reduce carbon emissions by 50% instead of 70%. The bill was then amended to delete any goal altogether and instead call for an investigation to determine how the state should reach its decarbonization goals.
Blue Planet Foundation executive director Melissa Miyashiro said that the non-profit organization has been pushing for numerous bills, which have so far survived. These bills deal with energy efficiency and clean transportation.
Energy efficiency is one of those things that maybe isn’t as sexy as some of the other clean energy bills, but we think it’s critically important in our future for 100% clean energy, Miyashiro said. Particularly in these times when energy prices are so high.
She said that two important measures would be crucial in achieving a carbon neutral economy by 2045. One,House Bill 1801, part of the caucus packages, and another similar measure. Senate Bill 2963 It would require all state buildings, other than smaller ones to implement cost-effective energy efficiency measures.
If one of the bills becomes law, new state buildings in the future will have to be more efficient in terms of energy and water use. They also need to use greener building materials.
Miyashiro said that we must start to think about what we can do in the near future to reduce emissions. That’s why that bill is important to us.
Other electric vehicle bills are also doing well.
Senate Bill 3158We would create an electric moped and electric bicycle rebate program. And Senate Bill 2720This would allow electric vehicle charging stations to be eligible for a rebate.
Miyashiro explained that this bill will look at the successful rebate program we have in the state to install electric vehicle chargers in public places. This bill makes some programmatic changes to reach more Hawaii residents.
Luke said that some bills’ scopes are reduced by the time they reach her committee. “But I’m still hopeful that there are big concepts still alive,” she said.
The Environmental Funders Group, Marisla Fund and Frost Family Foundation support Civil Beats coverage on climate change.
