In April 2017, the state Commission on Water Resource Management voted to adopt the terms of a mediated agreement intended to end the years-long conflicts over the diversion and waste of stream water via the Kokeʻe and Kekaha ditch systems … Continued
The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has issued a ruling that makes clear what it thinks of the Public Utilities Commission’s effort to push the companies it regulates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And that is: Not much. In a decision issued … Continued
Last month, Environment Hawai‘i reported on a new draft bat guidance document aimed at helping the state Endangered Species Recovery Committee (ESRC) make decisions regarding the Habitat Conservation Plans and Incidental Take Licenses that are required for wind farms to incidentally harm … Continued
Several million dollars have been spent over the past few years on research, habitat restoration, and land acquisition to mitigate the unexpectedly high number of endangered Hawaiian hoary bats being killed by wind farms across the state. Last month at … Continued
Where on O‘ahu are endangered Hawaiian hoary bats most active? According to an acoustic monitoring study launched in 2017, “by far and way, the bulk of activity is on northern part of the island,” said Joel Thompson of the Oregon-based … Continued
Can’t Cool Down: More than a decade ago at the Hawai‘i Conservation Conference, Stephen Miller of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Honolulu expressed his concern about the pace at which nighttime temperatures at high elevations were rising: … Continued
On August 23, the Land Board voted to accept a supplemental environmental impact statement for the Auwahi wind farm on Maui and approve a new Habitat Conservation Plan for the take of an additional 119 endangered Hawaiian hoary bats over … Continued
On June 6, Judge Greg K. Nakamura of the 3rdCircuit Court in Hilo heard arguments on several motions to dismiss a lawsuit filed last fall by Claudia Rohr. It was the second complaint that Rohr had brought in an effort … Continued
Marti Townsend, director of the Sierra Club’s Hawai‘i Chapter, asked the audience crammed into a state capitol conference room last month to imagine a world in which fossil fuel companies in the 1980s took the warnings of its scientists about … Continued
In December 2017, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court told the state Public Utilities Commission that it had to consider greenhouse gas emissions in carrying out “all of the [commission’s] duties.” The decision wasn’t unanimous. In fact, it was as close as … Continued