The 2016 session of the Hawai`i Legislature will not go down as one notable for its environmental achievements. On the whole, few bills having a significant impact on the environment made it through to the finish line. Still, several measures … Continued
Spinner Dolphin Protection: Popular though the swim-with-dolphin tours in Hawai`i may be, they are believed by scientists to pose a threat to spinner dolphins themselves, disturbing their rest patterns and making them more vulnerable to predation by sharks. More than … Continued
September 2016
In concert with our August 21 fundraiser in Hilo, Environment Hawai`i is releasing two new cotton jersey t-shirt designs featuring photos taken by our staff. You can purchase them at our event in a few weeks or pre-order them online now!
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. representatives have said it will be depriving its final sugarcane crop of water during the latter half of this year. So what’s happening to all of the tens of millions of gallons of water normally … Continued
The state of Hawai`i has settled a lawsuit brought by Bridge `Aina Le`a, LLC, which had claimed more than $30 million in damages as a result of a decision by the Land Use Commission to downzone acreage the company had … Continued
“House Bill 2501 invites litigation.” That succinct reply was all Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) attorney David Kimo Frankel provided Environment Hawai`i when asked back in May whether a holdover of water rights granted in accordance with the bill could … Continued
An outdated and overpriced tariff scheme. An entrepreneur who exploited loopholes in a law intended to benefit small farms. And a residential community that is seething over the prospect of more than two dozen photovoltaic arrays, intended to generate more … Continued
Mark Rauzon. Isles of Amnesia: The History, Geography, and Restoration of America’s Forgotten Pacific Islands. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press, 2016. The title of this book puzzled me at first. Its subject is the effort to restore seriously disturbed ecosystems on some … Continued
$10M in Band-Aids: The O`ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization has proposed appropriating $10.1 million to the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to design and construct repairs to sections of Kamehameha Highway between Kualoa and Hau`ula that are threatening to fall into … Continued