A wide range of experts have urged two Senate and House committees to do more to address climate change.
Following a nearly four-hour hearing Thursday, state Sen. Mike Gabbard, chair of the Senate Agriculture and Environment Committee, said that he appreciated the testimonies from representatives of 10 different groups and wants to introduce legislation that best addresses their concerns.
“I want to make it real with all the folks that came here today,” Gabbard (D, Kapolei-Makakilo- Kalaeloa) told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, following the state Capitol briefing.
State Climatologist Pao-Shin Chu, a University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology professor, told the joint committees that drought has become more intense in recent decades, specifically in eastern Maui and Hawaii island.
Climate change, Chu said, contributed to Hurricane Lane’s 2018 torrential rain and strong winds that resulted in wildfires on Maui. Then, Chu said, climate change again contributed to Hurricane Dora’s passage to the south of Hawaii island and helped drive the Aug. 8 wildfires that killed at least 100 people in Lahaina.
“It produced a very strong downslope of winds up to almost 70 mph, and it caused a problem for, particularly, Lahaina,” Chu said.
His statement elicited a response from state Rep. Elle Cochran (D, Waihee- Lahaina-Lahainaluna), vice chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee. “Fifty-nine years I lived in Lahaina, I’ve never seen winds like that,” she said.
Without any government action, Chu said, climate change will increase the frequency of tropical cyclones, leading to more problems in Hawaii such as heavy rainfall, storm surges and intense wind.
Chip Fletcher, interim UH SOEST dean, repeated expert studies that show 2023 marked the hottest year ever recorded, including the hottest months from June to November.
Fletcher said that on Oahu, Ewa Beach could see foot-tall waves in the next two decades, and Sunset Beach could see continued coastal erosion that leads to communities in both areas encountering polluted groundwater.
Victoria Keener, co-lead of the Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program, warned that climate change also will lead to more extreme heat unless something is done.
In Hawaii the average number of hot days has increased, while the average number of cool nights has decreased, she said. Keener said that “82% of heat-related deaths in Honolulu are already attributable to climate change.”
High school students Audrey Lin and Reina Gammarino emphasized the importance of addressing climate change for future generations.
Lin, a junior at ‘Iolani School and youth leader at Climate Future Forum Hawaii, said, “We are, to be frank, not pleased with the current state of affairs that we are set to inherit, and now we want to take action.”
Gammarino, a Punahou School senior, told the committees, “There are so many young people ready for systematic change, and I hope that the adults will just pause and listen.”
Lin said she wants to “turn dialogue into real action” in the upcoming legislative session with proposals to charge tourists a visitor impact fee to attain sustainable tourism.
At the end of the hearing, Gabbard told the Star-Advertiser that it’s his duty as a legislator to review climate change bills that have not been passed in previous sessions and introduce new ones based on more recent input.
“Now, with all the presentations made, we have a treasure trove that we can use,” he said.
