HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.662 2024-2026COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAh.
2025 SEP -2 AN H: 29
Hawai'i County Council
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
9:OOAM
RE: Resolution 234-25 - Relating to Pohakuloa - Strong Support
Dear Chair Inaba, Vice Chair Onishi, and Members of the Council,
The Chamber of Sustainable Commerce represents more than 500 small
businesses and entrepreneurs across Hawai'i committed to a triple bottom line:
people, planet and prosperity. We believe Hawai'i can design and grow a resilient
economy without sacrificing workers, communities, culture or the environment.
Resolution 234-25 reflects that vision and we seek your continued support.
Pohakuloa is not a sacrifice zone. It is a sacred, irreplaceable landscape —home to
cultural sites, endangered species, fragile ecosystems, and vital watersheds. Liver
fire training and bombing destroy its cultural, ecological, and spiritual integrity.
These activities violate HawaiTs conservation laws, our collective kuleana to future
generations and cause permanent losses to biodiversity, cultural heritage, and
natural resource capital.
The military frames live -fire training as "national security." But our true security rests
on protecting our water, land, food systems, cultural sites, and shared wellbeing.
HawaiTs dependence on military spending ties our economy to federal budgets
and global conflicts, leaving us vulnerable to forces outside our control. A resilient
economy is instead built on prevention of harm, regeneration, and shared
prosperity —anchored in community decision -making so local needs and values
shape our future.
Resolution 234-25 charts a more sustainable and responsible path by:
Reducing harm: ending destructive activities on conservation lands
Restoring value: protecting watersheds, soils, and endangered species.
Respecting culture: upholding kanaka maoli stewardship and values.
Reinforcing resilience: shifting from dependency on military spending to
regenerative local commerce rooted in community wellbeing.
For HawaiTs economy and communities to thrive, commerce must align with care
for land, people, and culture. Our security depends on an economy designed to
serve life, not the other way around. The Chamber of Sustainable Commerce
strongly supports Resolution 234-25 and urges its passage. '(�1
Respectfully submitted in strong support. Comm.
Ref. To:
www.ChamberofSustainableCommerce.gp Date —