LIHU‘E — Having a clean energy economy is a “transformation process” which would require “how we live, work and do business in Hawai‘i” to change, said state Rep. Mina Morita, D-14th District, during last week’s Kaua‘i Planning & Action Alliance
LIHU‘E — Having a clean energy economy is a “transformation process” which would require “how we live, work and do business in Hawai‘i” to change, said state Rep. Mina Morita, D-14th District, during last week’s Kaua‘i Planning & Action Alliance annual meeting.
“Energy issues are intrinsically tied to our quality of life,” she said. Changing one’s lifestyle and mindset away from being “energy junkies” is key.
Rather than considering walking as a chore, think of it as a “way to get fit” and “meet your neighbors,” Morita said. “If you have to drive, drive the most fuel-efficient vehicles.”
Hawai‘i spends “millions of dollars” on visitor industry marketing, yet exports $8 billion a year on the oil industry, she said. Decreasing consumption by just 10 percent would put $800 million back in the state’s pocket each year.
It doesn’t help that Hawai‘i is the “most petroleum-dependent state in the nation,” especially with regards to electric generation, she said. More than 96 percent of petroleum and 100 percent of coal in the state is imported from foreign countries.
“I really believe renewable energy is a pathway to peace. You can find it anywhere,” Morita said.
Generating clean, renewable, sustainable energy is a part of Kaua‘i’s “green jobs” future, said county Office of Economic Development Director George Costa.
“We’re hoping to move the needle with Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative in bringing more renewable energy to the island and weaning ourselves from oil,” he said at the “Green Jobs, Green Economy” meeting last week.
KIUC is a “huge challenge” because of its debt loan, Morita said.
But the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative is looking at KIUC to help restructure debt, she said.
Even though producing and transmitting alternative technology would generate new jobs, they would only be one facet of “green” employment, Costa said.
Jobs pertaining to the reduction of pollution and waste conservation — including electric engineers, plumbers and educators — are just a few of the many positions which could come out of a greener economy, he said.
“A green collar job is just a blue collar job upgraded to respect the environment,” Costa said.
If more green jobs aren’t created and Hawai‘i stays on its current unsustainable energy track, the state could exceed its green house gas emission rules which require levels to be “at or below” those of 1990 by 2020, Morita said.
Energy usage, which includes residential electricity, ground transportation and wastewater treatment, increased 7.5 percent from 1990 to 2005, according to a report created by the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism in 2007.
Nonetheless, Hawai‘i did pass some “key legislation for energy,” Morita said.
“We have to work collaboratively and not individually,” she said, to move forward with clean, renewable resources.
