“Hawai’i Island is at a crossroads… reactive public policies and misguided private investment are not helping – enough.” – Bill Bugbee

The following Beyond Kona article summarizes the challenges we face as we attempt to address our sustainability goals. 

Labeling something “renewable” or “alternative” can suggest promise of being climate-friendly. We see this employed in policy language and business strategies. An example listed in the article is the biomass power plant along our pristine Hamakua coast. This proposed plant is intended to supply our grid with ‘renewable’ energy. However, it’s misguided and will contribute to more CO2 thanks to the harvesting of carbon-sequestering trees, the transport of logs up and down the coast in diesel-burning trucks, and the burning of the trees to generate ‘renewable’ energy.

Fortunately, our utility has announced the intention to install solar farms with storage as a means to enhance their renewable energy portfolio. This is welcome (very welcome) news and likely influenced by the dropping cost of solar panels and storage, and the successful deployment of these solutions abroad and on other islands. 

More must be done to reduce our dependency on fossil energy. Importantly, each of us can help make this happen – as consumers we have powerful influence over manufacturers and business and political leaders.  

I’ll take solar and wind over denuded Kau and Hamakua hillsides and slow, smelly, NO2-belching trucks laden with logs. Any time.