The Hawai`i Supreme Court has weighed in on the question of whether greenhouse gas emissions need to be considered before the Public Utilities Commission can approve power-purchase agreements with independent power companies. And the answer is: Yes! The commission “erred … Continued
“Two ‘alalā in the Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve have reached a new milestone, one not seen in the forests of Hawaiʻi for almost 20 years. They have built a nest,” The ‘Alalā Project announced in a May 8 press … Continued
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has punted on the question of whether DW Aina Lea Development, LLC, should be able to bring a lawsuit against the state of Hawaii six years after the Land … Continued
If a Maui-based company called Work Force Developers, LLC, has its way, an entirely new town will be built on the Big Island over the next two decades, miles from any existing urban infrastructure. As described in a 500-plus-page draft … Continued
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has determined that the Hawaii deep-set longline fleet, which mainly targets bigeye tuna, killed one false killer whale (FKW) and seriously injured another within federal waters in January. Two is the maximum number of … Continued
The U.S. Supreme Court will not be hearing an appeal from a Maui landowner wanting to build a house on an oceanfront parcel in Makena. On January 14, the court denied cert to Douglas Leone and his wife, Patricia Perkins-Leone. … Continued
Extracting minerals from the abyssal depths of the ocean has long been an objective of countries around the world. And one of the areas that has been most coveted by countries and mining operations is the Clarion-Clipperton zone, which … Continued
There’s a good chance that the Hawai`i deep-set longline fishery for bigeye tuna will soon be restricted from a 112,575 square nautical mile area south of the main Hawaiian islands known as the southern exclusion zone (SEZ). Under National Marine … Continued
Departing from its hearing officer’s recommendations, the Board of Land and Natural Resources has voted to approve a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and Incidental Take License (ITL) for the proposed 25-megawatt Na Pua Makani wind farm in Kahuku, O`ahu, bringing … Continued
The National Marine Fisheries Service closed the Hawai`i shallow-set longline fishery for the rest of the year on May 8 in accordance with a settlement agreement and federal court order stemming from a 2012 lawsuit brought by the Turtle Island … Continued