Build the West Maui Greenway

West Maui has waited three decades for safe bicycling paths. In 1992, the County Council approved a resolution supporting safe bicycling paths throughout Maui. Thirty-one years later, little has been done in West Maui to implement this resolution.

There’s a real opportunity to make progress now. The West Maui Greenway, a proposed 25-mile multi-use path from Lipoa Point to Ukumehame, is designated as a high-priority project in the West Maui Community Plan approved by the County Council last year. But it will take community support to build the Greenway.

Why do we need the Greenway? Because cars, pedestrians and bicycles don’t mix well on Maui roadways.

Vision Zero Maui, the Maui Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) 2021 report, laid out the troubling statistics: from 2014 to 2018, pedestrians and bicyclists were involved in 9 percent of traffic crashes on Maui and represented 21 percent of traffic crash fatalities on Maui.

Think about that. One in five people killed in traffic accidents on Maui during a five-year period weren’t even in vehicles. They were walking or biking near the roadway.

If you’d like to see the West Maui Greenway move forward, please write to Mayor Richard Bissen (mayors.office@mauicounty.gov), Councilmember Tamara Paltin (tamara.paltin@mauicounty.us) and Maui MPO Executive Director Pam Eaton (pam@mauimpo.org).

It’s time to turn talk into action. West Maui needs and deserves a safe path for walking, jogging and bicycling.

JAMES FAHNESTOCK, Lahaina

Begin creation-enhanced school curriculums

What would it take to be able teach the Biblical Creation account in the public school system along with the Theory of Evolution? With our federal and state-controlled education system, advocating for this is challenging.

Whether identifying as a Darwin Evolutionist or God-made Creationist, beliefs on the origin of life require faith either way. Both positions have insufficient scientific evidence to affirm definitively their positions. Therefore, it is reasonable to offer both world views in public education.

Every civilization has some kind of story of how the universe and everything in it came into existence. States can choose to integrate those cultural perspectives into their curriculum, like Hawaii’s creation chant or Native American stories.

Show the similarities between the different accounts. Remarkably, many of the concepts are compatible. Teach children how to think rather than what to think. Taught equally, as viable possibilities, children can decide for themselves if they want to believe their origins are a cosmic unplanned event with apes as ancestors or created with purpose in the image of God.

In the mid-1800s, the Kingdom of Hawaii was the most literate nation at that time in history. Hawaii’s reputation for exceeding the norm can be furthered. Include in Hawaii’s public schools the Biblical and cultural explanations of the universe’s origins. It perpetuates the culture, honors Hawaiian ancestral heroes of faith and preserves Hawaii’s rich Christian heritage.

Foster learning by addressing comprehensively the “In the beginning…” options. Hawaii’s public schools are an appropriate place to initiate creation- enhanced curriculums.

MICHELE LINCOLN, Lahaina

Climate bills to watch at the Hawaii Legislature

Last week was the “crossover” deadline at the State Legislature, which marks the halfway point of the 2023 session. Thanks to your continued engagement and support, many key climate bills are making progress.

While there have been over a hundred bills introduced relating to clean energy and climate change, Blue Planet has prioritized a handful of bills that represent our greatest opportunity to make an impact. The bills in Blue Planet’s 2023 Policy Agenda focus on increasing affordability through energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions from transportation, and centering equity in our work to address climate change. Below is an update on key bills that are still alive.

Appliance efficiency standards: Blue Planet continues to support SB691 to expand the list of household products in Hawaii that meet minimum energy and water efficiency standards. At a time when Hawaii’s residents are facing multiple crises — including high electricity bills, a rising cost of living and climate change — setting appliance efficiency standards are a win-win policy solution for our working families and businesses.

Clean lighting standards: We continue to support HB192 and SB690, bills that phase out the sale of new fluorescent bulbs in the state to transition to more efficient LED bulbs. By phasing out fluorescents in favor of efficient LED bulbs, states can avert a needless health risk, save families and businesses money on energy bills, and curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Extending the Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPS) beyond 2030: We continue to support HB193 to update and extend the energy efficiency portfolio standards to 2045. As Hawaii progresses toward achieving its clean energy and decarbonization goals, energy efficiency remains the quickest, cheapest and cleanest way to reduce emissions from the electricity sector, while providing financial benefits to Hawaii residents and businesses during the transition.

EV charger-ready buildings: Although bills to provide electric vehicle charger-ready incentives for new affordable housing have died, we continue to support HB346 for an EV-ready requirement for new state facilities. In buildings without the proper wiring and conduit, tenants may pay up to 91 percent more for expensive retrofits to upgrade power capacity to install an EV charger. It’s important that we “future-proof” new construction and require EV charger-ready buildings.

Electrify tourism transportation of rental cars and tour buses: the rental car industry operates the state’s largest ground vehicle fleets. Blue Planet would like to require that an increasing percentage of Hawaii rental cars and tour buses be zero-emission vehicles, with a goal of 100 percent zero-emission tourism vehicles by 2035. We continue to support the intent of SB973, which has been amended to a working group, and are asking the bill be amended to its original language to require the transition of rental fleets to 100% zero-emission by 2035. Expansion of Hawaii’s Equity and Social Vulnerability Framework: The impacts of climate change are intensifying, and will have a disproportionate impact on communities that lack social and economic safety nets to quickly respond and adapt to climate-related risks. We continue to support HB441 to fund and develop a Hawaii-specific social vulnerability index to assist our collective planning efforts, so that together, we can create a healthier, more climate-resilient future for Hawaii.

Addressing climate change through policy is one of Blue Planet’s main focus areas, and so far, we have testified on 26 bills this legislative session. We are grateful and honored to be doing this work in collaboration with advocates, legislators and other stakeholders, because we know that climate change is here, and how we deal with it moving forward will impact the people of Hawaii for generations to come.

Mahalo for your continued support.

THE BLUE PLANET TEAM, Honolulu