Vote Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi

Care about your water? Hawaii's people take note!

Trouble in the Water: Hawaii's Climate Crisis Long before there was a crisis in Hawaii involving flames, there was a crisis involving water: water that climate change was drying up, scarce water going to...

** PLEASE SHARE WITH OTHERS IN HAWAI'I WHO LIKE TO BREATHE CLEAN AIR **

At 1:15pm Monday, the state senate is holding a hearing solely to consider a resolution to urge the state to come up with a plan to burn waste on every island.

Burning trash (and landfilling toxic ash) is the most expensive and polluting way to manage waste or to make energy. It pollutes more than burning coal, and is worse than simply landfilling trash without burning it first.

Unfortunately, Senators Favella, DeCoite, Wakai, and others have not learned this yet.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 89 / Senate Resolution 75 is being heard in a joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism (EET) and the Committee on Water and Land (WTL).

Here's how to speak up...

-Go here: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/account/submittestimony.aspx

-If you have an account, just log in. If you don't yet, click " register here" to create one.

-Find the grey box on the left where it says "Enter Bill or Measure and click Continue."

-Put "SCR89" or "SR75" in the box and hit Continue. [If you like, you can do this twice, once for each]

-On the right, type in your name, click "oppose."

-Under "Testifying," if you're representing a group, check that button and fill in your group name.

-Let them know if you're going to be testifying in-person, on Zoom, or just submitting written testimony. To testify on Zoom, you need to sign up 24 hours in advance (1:15pm Sunday).

-You can write your comments in the big box or can attach it as a file. Your comments don't need to be fancy. They can be as little as "I love clean air! No incineration!" or "Is this an April Fools Day joke?" If you want to go further, feel free to draw on any talking points below.

-Hit submit!

If you chose to testify on Zoom, log back into the portal by 1:15pm Monday to find the Zoom link. You'll probably only have one minute to speak. Doesn't need to be fancy, but feel free to draw on any of these talking points:

REASONS TO OPPOSE SCR89 / SR75:

* Burning trash (and landfilling toxic ash) is the most expensive and polluting way to manage waste or to make energy. It pollutes more than burning coal, and is worse than simply landfilling trash without burning it first.

* There is no such thing as "waste-to-energy." When burned, waste is turned into toxic ash and air pollution. No company is violating the laws of physics and turning matter into energy.

* Burning trash does not replace fossil fuels. It IS fossil fuels because much of the energy comes from burning plastics, which are made from oil and gas (fossil fuels), and is very toxic to burn. Because trash incineration counts as renewable energy under state law, it does not replace oil burning, but replaces solar and geothermal by competing within this state renewable energy mandate.

* The state's only trash burner, the H-POWER incinerator in Kapolei on O'ahu, is a huge air polluter.

* A 2021 life cycle analysis conducted for the County of Hawai'i found that incineration of paper and plastics at the H-POWER incinerator on O'ahu is the most harmful option for health and environment, that landfilling is far less damaging, and that recycling those materials (even after barging them thousands of miles to market) is a huge health and environmental benefit.

* Incineration conflicts with the state's climate change goals and the peoples' constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment under Article XI, Section 9 of the Hawai'i Constitution.

* Incineration and other so-called "waste-to-energy" technologies are considered unacceptable in a Zero Waste system, which is the better way to manage materials to preserve landfill space. Zero waste strategies also produce many times more jobs than burning or burying trash or ash.

* No one has built a commercial-scale trash gasification or pyrolysis facility in the U.S., and despite hundreds of attempts, no trash incinerator has been built at a new site since 1995 due to high costs and community opposition. There is no way any community in the state would accept one.

Island-specific points:

Kaua'i already exploring "waste-to-energy" options for a second time. Last time, it was apparent that no one would build such a facility so small as the island needs, because it's uneconomical. At the current rate, Kekaha Landfill will be full by 2030 even with a vertical expansion, and the new landfill won't be ready until about 2033. No "waste-to-energy" solution can happen soon enough to avoid the need to cut waste in half with Zero Waste strategies to close this gap and avoid a crisis.

O'ahu is already home to one of the nation's largest incinerators, H-POWER, and does not have enough waste to feed it. It is operating at only about 2/3rds capacity, and the county pays a penalty fee for not feeding it enough to burn, which is a disincentive to reduce, reuse, recycle or compost.

Maui does not produce enough waste to support a new incinerator. Central Maui Landfill has room until 2039 and adjacent land for expansion. The county is already working on plans to acquire the land for this purpose.

Hawai'i does not produce enough waste to support a new incinerator. Multiple incinerator proposals have been rejected in the past. Last year's waste solicitation for sustainable infrastructure requests ( RFI #4444) specifically rejected waste combustion proposals. West Hawaii Sanitary Landfill has room until 2050, is in an area not bothering local residents, and there is plenty of space to expand it.

Sign In After registering for an account you will be able to create personalized measure tracking lists, submit testimony online, and receive hearing notice notification by e-mail.

TESTIFY NOW!!! OPPOSE JOHN DE FRIES!!!
FROM KAHEA: THE HAWAIIAN-ENVIRONMENTAL ALLIANCE
At its special Feb. 29th meeting, the Mauna Kea Stewardship & Oversight Authority (MKSOA) is planning hire John De Fries as their executive director. Why are we concerned?
1. NO RECONCILIATION WITH THE TMT. In a 2019 interview, De Fries was asked: “How are you looking at Mauna Kea and where we are at today?” He responded: “I believe Mauna Kea has the power to convene exactly what is happening on the mauna right now. And in fact embraces that activity. I also believe Mauna Kea embraces modern astronomy and the construction of TMT.” De Fries takes a dangerous position, which imagines Kānaka Maoli organizing against the TMT can be reconciled with TMT construction. The latter negates the first. This position does not reconcile the positions, but sides with domination by the State.
2. MANUFACTUING KANAKA MAOLI CONSENT? Many, locally and internationally, perceive the MKSOA as the State administration’s instrument for addressing community opposition to the TMT. In this way, the Authority is the latest in a series of attempts by the State and TMT proponents to show that community opposition is in the past. One example was Envision Maunakea, an initiative developed by UH Institute of Astronomy Director Doug Simons and managed and led by Friends of the Future, a nonprofit on whose Board De Fries serves. Friends of the Future received TMT community benefit monies in at least 2010 and 2015.
3. DE FRIES WAS AT THE HELM OF HOKULIA (aka 1250 Oceanside Partners). Between 2001 and 2018, De Fries was at the helm of Hokulia while it was in litigation against community groups over iwi kupuna desecration (at least seven burial sites, including 70 sets of remains) and pollution of the marine waters, north of Kealakekua Bay. That project tore our communities apart. People lost their jobs, houses, family relationships, while De Fries acted merely in the financial interests of the developer.
If the MKSOA is sincere in its aim to usher in a new day for Mauna Kea, it shouldn’t select leadership with a track record of sacrificing cultural resources for profit. After decades of mismanagement and irreversible harm to our sacred mountain, the hiring of DeFries will not bring about the changes sorely needed to protect Mauna Kea. HERE:
MAUNA KEA STEWARDSHIP AND OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY (MKSOA)BOARD SPECIAL MEETING
19 E. Kawili Street,Hilo, HI 96720Telephone (808) 933-0734 Fax (808) 933-3208Website: http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/maunakea-authority/
MEETING AGENDA Thursday, February 29, 20249:00 am
In person at 19 E. Kawili Street,Hilo,
*EMAIL testimony to: [email protected].
(Item A/Vote)
Written testimony that is received later than 24-hours prior to the meeting will be retained as part of the record and distributed to MKSOA members as soon as practicable, but we cannot ensure that MKSOA members will receive it with sufficient time for review prior to decision-making.
* ZOOM:
To provide live oral/video testimony via Zoom: Email your request to: [email protected]
with the agenda item (Item A/Vote) on which you would like to testify.
Once your request has been received, you will receive an email with the Zoom link via which to testify. Requests may be made during the meeting and will be processed as soon as practicable.
* To provide oral testimony by telephone:Dial: +1 669 444 9171.
At the prompts, enter: Meeting ID: 997 0926 0478 Passcode: KqE29PNote: To unmute, press *6
* Watch Livestream at: https://www.youtube.com/

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