Statewide initiative sets goals for sustainability

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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL
Pictured (l-r) are OHA, Chief Executive Officer Kamana'opono Crabbe, Mayor of Honolulu Kirk Caldwell, Governor Neil Abercrombie, Mayor of Hawaii Billy Kenoi, Mayor of Maui Alan Arakawa and Mayor of Kauai Bernard Carvalho, Jr.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie, joined by the four county mayors and Office of Hawaiian Affairs CEO Kamana‘opono Crabbe, on Monday launched the Aloha+ Challenge, a series of targets for the state to reach in various sectors of sustainability, renewable energy and natural resource management.

The targets are outlined in a joint House-Senate nonbinding resolution passed unanimously by the Legislature this year and signed by all six government leaders at a ceremony in the Capitol Auditorium.

"We’re putting our commitments right on the dotted line," Abercrombie said afterward. "Each mayor, each Council, each county is moving within its own context to move on issues of sustainability. … Each and every one of us not only has the commitment, but I think has the support of each other to see that we make a statewide statement that’s going to carry us right through the 21st century."

Sen. J. Kalani English, chairman of the Senate Transportation and International Affairs Committee, was the primary proponent of the resolution.

"The Aloha+ Challenge will help keep us on the path to a sustainable future through coordinated efforts and strategic investments," English (D, East Maui-Upcountry-Molokai-Lanai) said in a statement.

THE BENCHMARKS
The Aloha+ Challenge sets six targets to be reached by 2030 in seven sectors of sustainability and preservation of natural resources:

>> Clean energy: Achieve 70 percent clean energy, including 40 percent from renewable sources and 30 percent from efficiency.
>> Local food: Double local food production with a goal of 20 to 30 percent of food consumed being grown locally.
>> Natural resource management: Increase watershed protection, community-based marine management, invasive species prevention and control, and restoration of native species.
>> Waste reduction: Reduce solid waste stream prior to disposal by 50 percent through source reduction, recycling and bioconversion.
>> Smart sustainable communities: Increase livability through planning and implementation at the state and county levels.
>> Green workforce and education: Increase local green jobs and education to implement these targets.

Source: Office of the Governor

The initiative, formally known as the "Aloha+ Challenge: A Culture of Sustainability — He Nohona ‘Ae‘oia," builds on efforts of previous administrations, including the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, a plan announced in 2008 by Gov. Linda Lingle and the U.S. Department of Energy.

That initiative aimed to put the state on track toward having 70 percent of state energy use come from clean energy sources by 2030, which is among the goals of the Aloha+ initiative. The initiative also spells out that 40 percent should come from renewable and 30 percent from improvements in energy efficiency, such as in buildings.

Other targets are in the areas of local food production, natural resource management, waste reduction, sustainable community development and green workforce training and education.

"It incorporates many, many of the previous commitments that have been made by all of the previous governors, by all the previous mayors, and allows us to be a little bit more focused," said William Aila, state Department of Land and Natural Resources director.

Mayors took turns listing projects on their islands that already meet or exceed goals for achieving sustainability.

Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho said his county, which includes Niihau, already includes the state’s largest solar farms, with new installations having been completed islandwide. He also highlighted efforts at branding local agriculture with the "Hawaii Grown" label.

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa highlighted the Valley Isle’s efforts in controlling invasive species and protecting natural resources. Hawaii island Mayor Billy Kenoi spoke about progress in agriculture and water management.

"Everybody has real accomplishments and achievements to talk about," Kenoi said after the ceremony. "It’s not conceptual.

"We gotta be measuring ourselves against our promises and commitments, and this is one way for people to hold us accountable and, more importantly, to better work together."

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell highlighted Oahu’s efforts in waste reduction and HPOWER, saying that 90 percent of the island’s trash is either recycled or incinerated. He also said the $5.26 billion rail project, the largest public works project in state history, coupled with transit-oriented development was a way of changing behavior to better protect resources and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

"We need to listen to people’s concerns, but at the end of the day, it’s very different than anything we’ve ever had before," he said. "Rail is about bringing about change and traveling differently than we ever have before, and I do believe one concrete thing 25 feet in the air, 30 feet wide is much better than four lanes of traffic in each direction, on an eight-lane freeway, by far.

"We need to get off of our car dependency. We need to figure out ways to move about this very small island in other ways, and that’s rail, that’s bike, that’s bus and that’s walking."