The conflict over a wood-fueled energy plant burns on. Honua Ola Bioenergy has filed its latest appeal to the state Supreme Court over the Public Utilities Commission’s rejection of its application to open the Hawaii island biomass plant in Pepeekeo.

Opposition to the plan centers on uncertainty about the supply of the trees to be burned, and the emissions that could be produced. But the $520 million invested in the nearly completed plant is motivation, too, so this legal fight is far from over.

Court’s EPA decision and AES plant

And on the issue of climate change, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in a West Virginia case is concerning to Hawaii as well. The decision last week, constraining the federal Environmental Protection Agency regulation of carbon emissions in coal plants, came only months ahead of the September deadline to close the coal-fired plant operated by AES in Kapolei.

Green energy will not yet be enough to replace the plant’s output, so continuing emissions reduction at the plant remains an imperative.