Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan

The Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Task Force unveiled their Sustainability Plan yesterday at a well attended press conference. The Advertiser's report (including video) is here. The Star-Bulletin story is here.

Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, representing the Speaker, pointed out that there will be annual reports showing what progress has been made and what needs attention. Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said what may have been on others' minds; I know it was on mine. To paraphrase, she said it was, indeed, a beautiful book with a lot of beautiful pictures. Too often, after the buzz is over, books like this are sentenced to a life gathering dust. This book, however, is too important to sit on a shelf. It contains a plan for people to read, to debate, and to use as we think about and shape our future.

Some interesting points about this plan:

It's been over 30 years since the last significant state planning project. This is the first long-range plan for the future of our state since "Hawaii 2000" which was completed in the early 1970's.

It also builds upon the 1961 plan produced by former Governor Bill Quinn.

It contains the first official definition of sustainability for Hawaii. Here it is:
A Hawaii that achieves the following:

Respects the culture, character, beauty and history of our state's island communities.
Strikes a balance among economic, social and community, and environmental priorities.
Meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
The plan includes priority actions and intermediate goals for the Year 2020. Here are the specific benchmarks:

1. Affordable Housing: By 2020, Hawaii's shelter-to-income ratio is nearing the national ratio of 22% of income spent for homeowner housing, and 30% for rental housing. We meet the estimated need for approximately 23,000 affordable and workforce housing units by 2011.

2. Public Education: By 2019, per DOE projections, 61% of grade 4 students will be proficient in math and 35% will be proficient in reading. Also, 31% of grade 8 students will be proficient in math and 22% will be proficient in reading.

3. Reliance on fossil fuels: 20% of electricity is to be generated from renewable resources by the end of 2020.

4. Recycling, reuse and waste reduction: 50% of Hawaii's municipal solid waste will be diverted from landfills.

5. Economy: The innovation sector will comprise 7% of all private sector jobs.

6. Sustainability ethic: 85% of Hawaii residents consider sustainability to be a "critically important" issue to our state.

7. Local foods and products: 30% of food consumed can be grown locally, 85% of fruits and vegetables we consume can be grown locally.

8. Long-term care and elderly housing: 40 beds per 1,000 residents aged 65 and older is desired.

9. Island cultural values: Hawaii residents attend a cultural event at least once a quarter.

More on the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan can be found on the task force website: www.hawaii2050.org.

Regarding legislation, the House bill, HB2590 HD1 was held today in the Committee on Economic Development & Business Concerns. Chair Kyle Yamashita explained that the House supports the bill, but since the companion bill, SB2833 is moving in the Senate, he would defer action on the House bill, thereby helping to ease the heavy load on the Finance committee.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I strongly urge the State legislature view the documentary "Crude Awakening" then revisit the 2050 plan. The 2050 plan in its current version is ludicrous. I recently viewed Colleen Hanabusa on PBS declare (paraphrasing here somewhat)that Hawaii needs to hang on until another wave of real estate speculation can save us by reinvigorating our construction based economy. That type of thinking is akin to ancient Hawaiians believing that human sacrifice was a necessary part of their culture at the time.

Anonymous said...

For a further reality check, I suggest our leaders start to expand their information gathering techniques....
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=462c46af-0963-498d-bb29-0a3e2f2059e3

http://torontosun.com/Money/2008/02/24/4872237-sun.html

We talk about genetically altering food in Hawaii and the richest man on the planet is storing real seed in a vault.