Column: It matters to Hawaii that the Arctic Refuge stays wild

When you look out on our shores in Hawaii, the northern reaches of Alaska might be the last thing you’re thinking about. But maybe you should. The reason: Whenever you see a ‘ulili (fondly sung of in IZ’s “‘Ulili E”), also known as the wandering tattler, it may have migrated back to our state from Alaska. But tragically that northernmost home is now threatened.

You see, the Trump administration recently finalized plans to begin oil leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which not only puts the ‘ulili and birds from six continents and all 50 states at risk but so much more. Often called “America’s last great wilderness,” the refuge covers approximately 19.3 million acres. Now, this slapdash and tragic plan by the federal Bureau of Land Management, which was announced on Aug. 17, will open all 1.56 million acres of its coastal plain to fossil fuel excavation.

This decision would be catastrophic for the 900 polar bears that call the coastal plain home because oil and gas exploration raises massive concerns about den abandonment. Beyond that, the Arctic Refuge provides calving ground for the Porcupine Caribou Herd, which the native Gwich’in people have depended on as a central part of their way of life for thousands of years. Finally, the plan would threaten 69 species of birds with extinction.

This is wrong for the country and wrong for Hawaii.

For too long, our country has prioritized the extraction of resources far more than the protection of wild places. With the federal government showing a willingness to bulldoze a national treasure in Alaska, why wouldn’t they do it right here in Hawaii? It makes you wonder whether commercial interests will one day get the federal government to weaken protections for the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

We simply can’t let that happen. That’s why Environment America joined the Gwich’in people and other environmental organizations in a lawsuit to stop the plan.

We’re involved because to do otherwise would not only lead to the desecration of an American jewel, but would also set a perilous precedent for oil and gas across America. Simply put, this plan is blind to the reality that, in 2020, extracting more fossil fuels from the ground is a fool’s errand when clean renewable energy options are rapidly on the rise.

We know better. Here in Hawaii, Gov. David Ige signed House Bill 623 in 2015, setting a target for 100% renewable energy. Since then, six other states — California, New Mexico, Maine, New York, Washington and Virginia — passed similar laws. These serious-minded commitments provide a crucial push to transition away from dirty fossil fuels toward clean energy and signal what kind of world Hawaii residents want to create and live in.

We cannot continue to commit to 19th-century fossil fuel technology for a half-century and hope to simultaneously usher in 21st-century clean energy. But that is exactly what U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt is suggesting. Following his department’s announcement, the secretary said that oil production could last for 50 years.

We need our national leaders to do what Hawaii leaders are doing: embrace a future filled with renewable energy and sustainable transportation options. And we cannot lose sight of the fact that we also need more nature in our lives, which are made richer with the ‘ulili returning from the North each year and the knowledge that polar bears are safely denning on the north slope of Alaska.

We need to ensure that the Arctic stays wild.

Oahu-born Malia Libby attended Columbia University and recently returned to Hawaii, where she is a conservation associate with Environment America.