The Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission met last week to recap its progress over the past year, set the stage for the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP26) and restate Hawaii’s climate goals.

Gov. David Ige opened the meeting to speak about the state’s involvement in COP26, saying that he and a Hawaii delegation will travel to the Glasgow conference to argue three main points: 1) that “islands matter” because they are the “canaries in the coal mine;” 2) that “it’s time for action;” and 3) that “we need to stay below a 1.5 degrees Celsius” rise in the global temperature.

Ige pointed to evidence of Hawaii being at the leading edge of climate risk: “We see the coral bleaching events, we see the rain bombs, the overwhelming flooding, the drought, the wildfires that continue to ravage our community.”

Hawaii “has been on the forefront of this climate challenge for many, many years,” he said, adding that “because other, larger organizations and governments have been timid and unable to take that step forward … We cannot wait for a global solution.”

The governor argued that sequestering carbon will eventually become the most important factor in fighting climate change, telling the commission, “All of you know that net zero is not good enough. It is about going beyond net zero to capture more carbon than we emit.”

Double Crises

Hawaii County Planning Department Director Zendo Kern discussed the financial impact on renters and homeowners from updating building codes for climate change.

“There are two crises that we’re in: We have climate, and we have affordability. The merger of these two together… they don’t jive, on the surface. What we’re doing is we’re increasing the cost of homes through climate adaptation, mitigation, etc. At the same time, we’re saying we need all these homes,” Kern said, adding that the county is projected to be short 13,000 housing units over the next five years.

Kern argued for more a more nuanced building code system that would take coastal impact areas into consideration. “If you’re in a coastal impact area, your code should probably be pretty close to what it is, maybe even ramped up. But if you’re not, what’s wrong with an older style of construction?”

Kern spoke on what he thinks is a lack of data showing that a uniform housing code increases safety, saying, “I don’t think that really exists … What we see is people living in plantation homes, still working great. What we see is people living in single-walled homes, still working great … But if you want to build new, no. You need to bulletproof this thing to the next level.”

Kern said he wants to discuss a tiered system that would allow areas to use more nuanced building codes that allow for more affordable housing construction.

Cleaner Transport

Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) Director Jade Butay reviewed the state’s recent commitment to transitioning its fleet to all electric vehicles via House Bill 552, which requires state agencies to switch all light-duty vehicles to zero-emission by the end of 2035. HDOT is also implementing a pilot program to transition buses to zero-emission on Kauai, Maui and Hawaii island. Butay noted that “a complete conversion to zero-emission buses for the three counties will likely lead to at least a reduction of 15,000 short tons of greenhouse gas production per year.”

Butay also described HDOT’s Climate Adaptation Action Plan, which focuses on reducing road hazards caused by climate change, reducing single-occupancy car rides by supporting public transportation and ride-sharing, and encouraging telework through a pilot program that provides rural communities with broadband internet.

Coal Plant Closure Looms

The Powering Past Coal Task Force, a subdivision of the Hawaii State Energy Office (SEO), gave updates on the shutdown and replacement of Hawaii’s last remaining coal plant, AES Hawaii on Oahu. “We’re now about 10 months away from the retirement and a lot of work has been done, but a lot more needs to happen,” SEO Chief Energy Office Scott Glenn said. (See Hawaii PUC Weighs Oahu Coal Plant Closure Options.)

A few renewable energy projects will still be under construction once the coal plant retires, Glenn pointed out, causing a potential energy shortfall from spring to fall 2023. “There will be a slight decrease in reliability that we are working to address … I’m not talking about necessarily blackouts, but it’s a question of degree in terms of how much reliability we have in terms of the cushion between our normal operating levels and backup power.”

100 Million Trees

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) reported on its efforts to “conserve, preserve, and plant” 100 million trees over the next decade.

The work is being done as part of the World Economic Forum’s worldwide “Trillion Trees Initiative” to restore biodiversity and fight climate change through carbon capture.

“We’re doing that primarily through protecting existing forests with watershed fences,” said Natural Resource Planner Leah Laramee. “We’re also conserving private land through legal protections, planting trees to restore existing forests, planting trees to reclaim unused rural lands where forests used to exist, planting trees to advance agroforestry, planting trees in urban areas, and facilitating natural regeneration.”

Other Updates

The University of Hawaii Institute for Sustainability and Resilience presented the state’s views on climate change with respect to equity. Director Makena Coffman said the institute is primarily examining vulnerability, which it defines as adaptive capacity (“the ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from an event”), sensitivity (“personal factors driving vulnerability”), and enhanced exposure (“environmental factors that mitigate or exacerbate climate impacts”). The institute is gathering and collating data from various local and federal sources, such as the CDC social vulnerability index, to aid in its determinations.

Kauai County Planning Department Director Ka’aina Hull gave an update on the island’s sea level rise (SLR) plans, saying that while planning is still in its preliminary stages, he and his team are going to meet with officials in Boston to discuss that city’s SLR strategy and use the information gained from its plans.

Maui County Senior Planner Jeffrey Dack explained Maui’s plans of strategic retreat, saying that Maui is proposing the county enact a strategic retreat of 40 feet from what they are calling the “erosion hazard line,” meaning areas at risk from coastal erosion once sea level rise has occurred.