2024-09-26 PL-INT-2024-008822 GP 2045 Draft Comments - T. Keeney

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VISITOR INDUSTRY P. 177 By adopting regenerative practices, our island can not only mitigate the negative effects of tourism but also ensure the long-term wellbeing and resilience of its communities and ecosystems. General Comments: 1. The emphasis on Regenerative Tourism came as a result to the mounting criticism of the numbers of visitors and intrusion into the social fabric that the numbers of visitors was creating. The numbers of visitors is the basic problem - not that the visitors are disrespectful of the historic and current cultures. The catchphrase of `Regenerative Tourism' is an effort to divert attention from the real problem of numbers. It is likely that for 90+ % of visitors there has been no change of plans or behavior from before the term `regenerative tourism' was fabricated. There has been no diminishing of numbers of visitors. 2. By far, the most `negative effect of tourism' is the associated Greenhouse Gas emissions from air transport of visitors. As we see more and more the social effects of rising temperatures such as climate migration, civil unrest and food shortages and the climate disasters such as fire, flood, hurricanes, sea level rise etc. the more clear it will be that leisure travel must be eliminated. Hawaii tourism, as leisure travel, is perhaps the worst offender on the planet, Hawaii being the most distant archipelago from any inhabited continental land mass. 3. In 2021 I presented a paper to the Honolulu Climate Change Commission indicating that Greenhouse Gas Emissions from air transport of Visitors to Hawaii accounted for 1-1/2x Hawaii's total domestic GHG emissions. The Honolulu Commission requested that I present the paper to the State Climate Commission. Dr. Makena Coffman, UHERO researcher, presented a critique of the paper a year later indicating that the correct figure would be equal to all Hawaii's domestic emissions. However her analysis did not count any connecting flight emissions, but only the two Hawaii legs of an itinerary. This is resultant from her use of the Hawaii State Greenhouse Gas Inventory, of which she was an author, for visitor data. My findings were based on the Hawaii Tourism Authority's eight `Global Regions of Origin' visitor data and thus counted `connecting flights' in the itinerary (which has its own problems). 4. Also subsequent to Dr. Coffman's presentation, the IPCC designated as 'best science' on Aviation emissions a method which calculates the global warming potential of `non-0O2 emissions' as twice that of CO2 emissions themselves. Whereas myself and Dr. Coffman had calculated these `non-0O2 emissions' as equal to the warming potential of CO2 itself, using the IPCC endorsed method would bring her calculation of visitor air transport GHG emissions to 1-1/2x the state's total domestic emissions, and my calculation, including the multiple legs of any visitor itinerary, to 2x the state's total net domestic emissions. 5. My papers to the Honolulu and State Climate Commissions are included in the Communication section. CLIMATE CHANGE P. 11 "Although Hawaii Island alone will not reverse global GHG emissions, we can lead by example and set a precedent for other island states to become more sustainable. Comment: By far, the most important example that we can set would be to set a yearly adjustable tax or fee on visitation to our islands. This fee should begin modestly but progressively increase to bring the number of visitors down dramatically over a several year