Recently, bucket trucks started visiting Oahu neighborhoods as the City and County of Honolulu began the effort to replace our island’s old sodium streetlights with more energy efficient LED lamps. While the path to installing LED lights in our community had bumps along the way — first a delay in procurement and then a critique regarding the light levels — the end result is an improved product. The procurement delay actually ended up lowering the overall cost to taxpayers, and the discussion about the light level led to a better project.

The Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency believes this project represents a major step forward in securing Oahu’s sustainable future.

First, by installing these LEDs island-wide, the people of Oahu will honor our commitment to the Paris Agreement and the Chicago Climate Charter and take a crucial step toward reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and bettering our planet. The new lights will use 60 percent less energy than the old ones, eliminating nearly 15 tons of greenhouse gases each year once fully installed.

Second, our conversion to LED lights will substantially benefit our taxpayers, creating a win-win for the environment and lowering our cost of living. Once all of the streetlights are replaced, the city is projected to enjoy savings of approximately $5 million per year through lower energy costs, lower maintenance needs, longer life cycles, and an improved ability to monitor energy use remotely. Because the project is funded by an innovative public-private partnership where First Hawaiian Bank provides the financing up-front with no out-of-pocket costs to the city, it means the savings begin immediately and grow over time.

Third, LED lights will improve nighttime visibility across the island for drivers, bicyclists, law enforcement and pedestrians. This in turn creates safer conditions on our streets and sidewalks for our citizens who love to be outside. Moving around our island will now be safer at night, and the lights have unique safety features that can ultimately be used to direct escape paths for citizens during tsunami warnings or other natural hazard events.

In the early phases of this project, some objected to the 4000 Kelvin lights originally proposed for the lamps — a level that mirrored the lights already installed by the state throughout our highways and freeways. However, city leaders listened and ultimately modified 90 percent of our LED plan to instead install warmer lamps of 3000 Kelvin in local neighborhoods, while the remaining 10 percent of lights on major arterial roadways that require greater visibility and public safety remained at 4000 Kelvin.

What’s more, individual fixtures can be dimmed for additional energy savings and lower levels of light when appropriate. These lighting levels are consistent with American Medical Association guidelines and have proven to have little to no impact on birds and other species in areas where they have been installed. In fact, the Sierra Club, which originally voiced concern about light levels, has reviewed the project closely and is now pleased with the direction in which the city has moved.

As an island state in the middle of the world’s greatest ocean, Hawaii is one of the most vulnerable places on Earth to the impacts of climate change. If we want a safer, more sustainable future for our community, we must find new ways to protect the Hawaii we love, and this will often require some changes. The new LED lights coming involve some small changes, but will result in big benefits to help our community thrive.

Joshua Stanbro is executive director and chief resilience officer of the city Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency.