HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	67
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

CALLING ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND STATES TO LOWER COSTS FOR CONSUMERS, CREATE MORE JOBS, AND REDUCE THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE ECONOMY BY REPLACING FOSSIL FUELS WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY.

 

 

 

WHEREAS, human activity has caused an alarming increase in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, primarily produced by the use of fossil fuels, and recorded in measurements first taken at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, showing an approximate thirty percent increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide between 1958 and 2017 which has resulted in a rapidly warming globe; and

 

WHEREAS, warming temperatures have already caused Hawaii's sea level to rise half a foot in recent decades, accelerating the erosion and loss of dozens of miles of beaches around the state, including Waikiki Beach, which many local businesses have supported paying millions in additional taxes to artificially replenish because its permanent erosion will cause an estimated $2,000,000,000 in annual losses for the local economy; and

 

WHEREAS, ocean acidity has already grown about thirty percent, contributing to widespread coral bleaching and reef loss, shrinking fisheries, and devaluing a natural asset measured in 2002 as a $9,700,000,000 resource contributing $363,000,0000 in annual revenue to the local economy; and

 

WHEREAS, warming air has already led to increasingly frequent and intense hurricanes, including a record fifteen hurricanes and tropical storms nearing or hitting Hawaii in 2015, and two separate hurricanes narrowly missing Hawaii in one week in 2016, a direct hit from any one of which could cause an  estimated $40,000,000,0000 in losses to the State's economy; and

 

WHEREAS, industrial polluters have traditionally been allowed to freely dump carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air, effectively passing the costs of mitigation and cleanup onto taxpayers, prompting action to encourage the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy which has already led to successful progress reducing costs for consumers, creating jobs, and improving the environment; and

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii households each saved an average of $945 in electric costs in 2015 as a result of switching to more efficient appliances that meet federal efficiency standards; and

 

WHEREAS, the switch to electric vehicles has reduced fuel costs for consumers by approximately thirty percent and electric vehicle adoption has grown twenty-six percent between 2015 and 2016; and

 

WHEREAS, more than one third of single family homes in Hawaii have installed rooftop solar power generation which has significantly reduced consumer electric bills and created thousands of jobs, making renewable energy the fastest growing segment of the economy and accounting for a quarter of all building permits issued in Honolulu during the Great Recession of 2007-2009; and

 

WHEREAS, progress toward Hawaii's one hundred percent renewable portfolio standard has meant an increase in renewable energy from nine percent of electricity generated in 2007 to twenty-five percent of electricity generated in 2017, which has already saved Hawaii over a quarter of a billion dollars by reducing reliance on more expensive fossil fuels; and

 

WHEREAS, because fossil fuels are a commodity whose price will rise as supplies become more difficult to extract, and renewable energy is a technology whose price will decrease as innovation reduces costs, other states will increasingly stand to benefit by switching to renewable energy as Hawaii has done; and

 

     WHEREAS, taxpayers in all states stand to benefit by reducing carbon pollution driving climate change, whose mitigation and adaptation costs are passed on to consumers as federal, state, and local governments are forced to spend additional resources fighting increasing sea level rise, drought, and natural disasters; now, therefore,

 

BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, that the federal government and all states are encouraged to lower costs for consumers, create more jobs, and reduce the impacts of climate change on the economy by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the federal government and all states are encouraged to assist with retraining and meaningful support for workers in the fossil fuel sector to ensure their future as the market transitions from fossil fuels to cheaper renewable energy; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of Energy, the Chairperson of the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Chairperson of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Governors of the states and territories of the United States, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia. 

Report Title: 

Renewable Energy; Electricity; Solar; Environment