Action Alert! Important bills being heard in House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection

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This hearing is HUGE! Please submit testimony by Monday 3/12 at 8:30am in SUPPORT of the following bills:

Freshwater

SB 2930 Underground Storage Tanks

Sea Level Rise

SB 2334 Sea Level Rise planning

SB 3068 Implements recommendations of the Sea Level Rise report

Clean Energy

SB 2939 Performance based rates

SB 2910 Grid resiliency

Cesspools

SB 2567 Cesspool upgrade upon property sale

Sunscreens

SB 2571 Oxybenzone/Octinoxate Ban

Waste/Recycling

SB 3099 Recycling benchmarks

SB 2110 Motor oil collection

Native/Invasive Species

SB 2399 Invasive Species Authority

General Environment

SB 2977 Assesses the effects of tourism on climate change

SB 2965 Nature-based solutions in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts

Sustainable Development Goals

SB 2668 Affordable and clean energy

SB 2674 Climate action

Need a testimony template? Click here for a copy & paste. You will just need to add your info and why you support the bill.

Sustainable Development Goals in Hawaiʻi

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Sustainable_Development_Goals.jpg

Sustainable development is a term that we hear a lot these days. It is defined by the International Institute of Sustainable Development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sustainability is crucial here in Hawaiʻi, as we have already seen our natural resources become depleted, and will be some of the first in the world affected by climate change and sea level rise.


In 2015, the United Nations adopted a new framework for a better world, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the purpose of creating a “plan of action for people, planet and prosperity.” Hawaiʻi has taken initiative and jumped on board with the United Nations, and now has drafted legislation to implement statewide action and do our part to help achieve the sustainability goals. Below are some of the SDG bills that align with our mission this legislative session:

SB 2667 Clean water and sanitation - including access to clean drinking water for all, improving water quality and efficiency, protecting watersheds and restoring water-related ecosystems, and implementing more effective water resource management

SB 2668* Affordable and clean energy - including achieving 70% clean energy, 100% renewable energy by 2045, expanding and upgrading technology and infrastructure

SB 2674 Climate action - including integrating climate change measures into state policies and strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related natural disasters

SB 2675 Life below water - which includes preventing and significantly reducing marine pollution, in particular from land based activities, sustainably managing and protecting marine and coastal ecosystems, and ending overfishing and subsidies that promote illegal, unprotected and unreported fishing

SB 2676 Life on land - which includes ensuring conservation, restoration and sustainable use of land, combating desertification and ensuring the conservation of mountain ecosystems

*We would like to note that SB 2668 has language pertaining to "cleaner fossil fuel technology" (page 8, line 13). The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi does not support the implementation of technologies that utilize fossil fuels of any kind moving forward, when renewables could be chosen. We suggest the language of this bill be amended to explicitly define "clean fossil fuels" in the statute.