HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0494.001 2018-2020 Of j,
VALERIE T. POINDEXTER Phone: (808)961-8018
Council Member Fax: (808)961-8912
Chair, Committee on Parks and Recreation Email: valerie.12oindexter@hawaiicoupV.gov
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HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL C= =C:)
County ofHawai'i
Hawai'i County Building C:)
25 Ayouni Street, Suite 1402
Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
DATE: October 1, 2019
TO: Aaron Chung, Chairperson,
and Members of the Hawaii County Council
FROM: Ai'
valerie T. Poindexter, District I Council Member
RE: Proposed Amendments to Resolution No. 322-19; A Resolution Declaring a
Hawaii County Climate Emergency and Requesting Regional Collaboration
Towards an Immediate Just Transition and Emergency Mobilization Effort to
Restore a Safe Climate.
Please see below proposed amendments to Resolution No. 322-19. The proposed amendments
are illustrated below in Ramseyer format with respect to the contents of Resolution No. 322-19;
material to be removed is bracketed and stricken and new material is underlined. The proposed
amendments are bolded for illustrative purposes.
1. The first )WHEREAS clause is amended to read as follows:
"WHEREAS, on April 22, 2016,world leaders from 175 countries recognized
the threat of climate changeand the urgent need to combat it by signing the Paris Climate
Accord, agreeing to keep warming"well below [354. 1-F] 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial
levels"and to "pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to [34.-7-*F] 1.5°C
(2.71F)"; and"
2. The second)WHEREAS clause is amended to read as follows:
"WHEREAS,the October 8, 2018 special report of the United Nations (UN)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (lPCQ projected that curtailing warming to
[34.-70-F] 1.5°C (2.7°F)to reduce the risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water
supply, human security, economic growth and plant and animal life this century, will
require an unprecedented transformation of every sector of the global economy over the
next 12 years, further, stopping warming at the UN target of[34.71F] 1.5°C (2.7°F)can
only be achieved by overshooting the target and reversing warming with negative
emissions (carbon removal from the atmosphere); and"
Comm. 4q 4. 1
Ref.
Hawai'i Count Ref.
Opportunity Provider and Employer R Oate 0 W1
County is an Equal 6pportunit -
3. The third WHEREAS clause is amended to read as follows:
"WHEREAS, subsequent research in the peer reviewed journal Nature has been
released indicating that warming is likely to accelerate in the next decade and reach
[34.-71-F] 1.5°C (2.7°F)by 2030 (ten years earlier than projected by the 2014
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)), [35x.60"] 2°C (3.6°F)by 2045, and
[39-.2-44-OF] 4°C to 5°C (7.20E-9.0OF),by the 2080's; and"
4. The fifth WHEREAS clause is amended to read as follows:
"WHEREAS,the Fourth National Climate Assessment further indicates that the
death and destruction already wrought by global warming of approximately [33-.98-F]
1.1°C (1.98°F) above late 19th century levels, demonstrates that the Earth is already too
hot for humanity to safely and justly exist, as attested by increased and intensifying
wildfires, floods,rising seas, diseases, droughts and extreme weather; and"
5. The twelfth WHEREAS clause is amended to read as follows:
"WHEREAS, as cited by the Climate Mobilization Project, a rapidly growing list
of over [900] 1000 cities, districts, counties, and local governments across the world
representing over [7$8] 221 million people collectively have declared or officially
acknowledged the existence of a global climate emergency and have committed to action
to drive down emissions at emergency speed; and"
6. The third BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED clause is amended to read as follows:
"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to
educating its employees and residents about the climate crisis and the work needed to
catalyze a just emergency climate mobilization effort at the local, regional, state,national,
and global level to provide maximum protection for our residents as well as all the people
and species of the world[;] and actively pursue adaptation strategies to allow our
community to more Proactively respond to inevitable disruption of our communities
by rising sea levels and egregious weather disasters."
7. The sixth BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED clause is amended to read as follows:
"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to
reducing emissions related to transportation by supporting both affordable housing and
transit-oriented development while implementing a robust Transportation Demand
Management Program calling on the Hawaii County Department of Planning, Mass
Transit Agency, and the Department of Public Works, alongside other appropriate local
agencies, to participate in this regional emergency climate mobilization effort, as well as..,
actively encourage and promote the use of emission-free vehicles and enable a rapid
expansion of public EV charging infrastructure."
A draft copy of Resolution No. 322-19, Draft 2, is attached with these proposed amendments
incorporated therein.
VP/sc
Att.
Hawai'i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
RESOLUTION DECLARING A HAWAII COUNTY CLIMATE EMERGENCY AND
REQUESTING REGIONAL COLLABORATION TOWARDS AN IMMEDIATE JUST
TRANSITION AND EMERGENCY MOBILIZATION EFFORT TO RESTORE A SAFE
CLIMATE.
WHEREAS, on April 22, 2016, world leaders from 175 countries recognized the threat
of climate change and the urgent need to combat it by signing the Paris Climate Accord, agreeing
to keep warming "well below 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels" and to "pursue efforts to
limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.717)"; and
WHEREAS,the October 8, 2018 special report of the United Nations (UN)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projected that curtailing warming to 1.5°C
(2.7°F) to reduce the risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security,
economic growth and plant and animal life this century, will require an unprecedented
transformation of every sector of the global economy over the next 12 years, further, stopping
warming at the UN target of 1.5°C (2.7°F) can only be achieved by overshooting the target and
reversing warming with negative emissions (carbon removal from the atmosphere); and
WHEREAS, subsequent research in the peer reviewed journal Nature has been released
indicating that warming is likely to accelerate in the next decade and reach 1.5°C (2.7°F)by 2030
(ten years earlier than projected by the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)),
2°C (3.6-F),by 2045, and 4°C to 5°C (7.2'F-9.0'F)by the 2080's; and
WHEREAS,on November 23,2018,the United States Global Change Research Program,
comprised of 13 U.S. federal agencies, issued the Fourth National Climate Assessment detailing
the massive threat that climate change poses to the American economy and underscoring the need
for immediate emergency action by every level of government to reduce emissions of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases; and
WHEREAS, the Fourth National Climate Assessment further indicates that the death and
destruction already wrought by global warming of approximately 1.1°C (1.98°F) above late 19th
century levels,demonstrates that the Earth is already too hot for humanity to safely andjustly_exist,
as attested by increased and intensifying wildfires, floods, rising seas, diseases, droughts and
extreme weather; and
WHEREAS, in 2017 eight scientists published the BioScience journal article, "World
Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice" which included 15,364 signatories from
scientists representing 184 countries formally supporting the work,declaring humans have pushed
Earth's ecosystems to their breaking point and that we are well on the way to ruining the planet, as
climate change and the global economy's overshoot of ecological limits are driving the sixth mass
extinction of species, which could devastate much of life on Earth for the next 10 million years;
and
WHEREAS, the United States has disproportionately contributed to the climate and
extinction emergencies (see the Global Carbon Project's Cumulative CO2 emissions data
https:Hourworldindata.org/grapher/cumulative-co-emissions)and has repeatedly obstructed global
efforts to transition toward a green economy, and thus bears an extraordinary responsibility to
rapidly address these existential threats; and
WHEREAS, restoring a safe and stable climate requires a whole-of-society Climate
Mobilization at all levels of government, on a scale not seen since World War II, to reach zero
greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors at emergency speed, to rapidly and safely draw down
or remove all the excess carbon from the atmosphere and to implement measures to protect all
people and species from the consequences of abrupt climate change; and
WHEREAS,actions to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and/or draw down greenhouse
gases may include improving resilience to the effects of climate change, i.e. Targeting food
security in our region that is a critical action in the face of climate change, which will continue to
place added pressure on existing food and water resources; and
WHEREAS,ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our citizens is the prime directive of our
local governments,and the cumulative impacts of climate change upon Hawaii will be particularly
severe over the next several decades; and
WHEREAS, according to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, climate change
impacts in the Pacific Islands are expected to amplify existing risks and lead to compounding
economic, environmental, social, and cultural costs. In some locations, climate change impacts on
ecological and social systems are projected to result in severe disruptions to livelihoods that
increase the risk of human conflict or compel the need for migration. Early interventions, already
occurring in some places across the region, can prevent costly and lengthy rebuilding of
communities and livelihoods and minimize displacement and relocation; and
WHEREAS, as cited by the Climate Mobilization Project, a rapidly growing list of over
1000 cities, districts, counties, and local governments across the world representing over 221
million people collectively have declared or officially acknowledged the existence of a global
climate emergency and have committed to action to drive down emissions at emergency speed;
and
WHEREAS, the term"Just Transition" is a framework for a fair shift to an economy that
is ecologically sustainable, equitable and just for all its members, and recognizing just transition
strategies were first forged by the BlueGreen Alliance of labor unions and environmental justice
groups who saw the need to phase out the industries that were harming workers,community health,
and the planet,while also providing just pathways for workers into new livelihoods; and
WHEREAS, just transition initiatives shift the economy from dirty energy to energy
democracy, from funding highways to expanding public transit, from incinerators and landfills to
zero waste, from industrial food systems to food sovereignty, from car- dependent sprawl and
unbridled growth to smart urban development without displacement, and from rampant,
destructive over-development to habitat and ecosystem restoration; and
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WHEREAS,justice requires that frontline communities,which have historically borne the
brunt of the extractive fossil-fuel economy,participate actively in the planning and implementation
of this mobilization effort at all levels of government and that they benefit first from the transition
to a renewable energy economy, and recognizing fairness demands a guarantee of high-paying,
good-quality jobs with comprehensive benefits for all and many other tenets of a Green New Deal
effort as the mobilization to restore a safe climate is launched; and
WHEREAS, the County of Hawaii has an opportunity to continue to be a global leader
by rapidly organizing a regional emergency climate mobilization effort and converting to an
ecologically, socially, and economically regenerative economy at emergency speed, and by
catalyzing a unified regional just transition and climate emergency mobilization effort this year;
now,therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the
County of Hawaii acknowledges that an existential climate emergency threatens humanity and
the natural world. Therefore, the County of Hawaii will implement a just, equitable, countywide
emergency climate mobilization effort to reverse global warming, by drastically reducing
countywide emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases, and safely drawing down carbon
from the atmosphere no later than 2030, while accelerating adaptation and resilience strategies in
preparation for intensifying climate change impacts.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to revising its
existing policies, priorities, processes, and use and distribution of resources to implement
emergency climate mobilization efforts countywide, including the development of an
environmentally preferable purchasing policy to guide efficient, consistent, and just action.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to rapidly
completing the Hawaii Island Climate Action plan by establishing ambitious goals, consistent
with or exceeding State goals and objectives; and working immediately to implement the paths
laid out in said plan, including phasing out existing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and
implementing initiatives such as tree planting,to sequester carbon from the air.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to educating its
employees and residents about the climate crisis and the work needed to catalyze a just emergency
climate mobilization effort at the local, regional, state, national, and global level to provide
maximum protection for our residents as well as all the people and species of the world and actively
pursue adaptation strategies to allow our community to more proactively respond to inevitable
disruption of our communities by rising sea levels and egregious weather disasters.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to integrating
current science-based and cultural-based approaches to combating climate change locally
involving researchers, cultural practitioners, and other community organizations integral to the
emergency climate mobilization effort.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii underscores the need for full
community participation, inclusion, and support, and commits to working with and keeping the
concerns of vulnerable communities central to all just transition and climate emergency
mobilization effort planning.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii commits to reducing
emissions related to transportation by supporting both affordable housing and transit-oriented
development while implementing a robust Transportation Demand Management Program calling
on the Hawaii County Department of Planning, Mass Transit Agency, and the Department of
Public Works,alongside other appropriate local agencies,to participate in this regional emergency
climate mobilization effort, as well as, actively encourage and promote the use of emission-free
vehicles and enable a rapid expansion of public EV charging infrastructure.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii shall support widespread
transitions to climate-smart agriculture to improve retention of water and carbon sequestration,
through education, application assistance, and financial incentives, including support for small-
scale local farms. Possible methods include cover crops, no-till, mulching, composting and other
regenerative planting practices.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii joins a nationwide call for a
regional just transition and climate emergency mobilization collaborative effort focused on
transforming our region and rapidly catalyzing a mobilization at all levels of government to restore
a safe climate.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Hawaii calls on the State of Hawaii,
the United States of America, and all governments and peoples worldwide, to initiate a just
transition and climate emergency mobilization effort to reverse global warming by restoring near
preindustrial global average temperatures and greenhouse gas concentrations, that immediately
halts the development of all new fossil fuel infrastructure, rapidly phases out all fossil fuels and
the technologies which rely upon them, ends greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible,
initiates an effort to safely draw down carbon from the atmosphere, transitions to regenerative
agriculture, ends the sixth mass extinction, and creates and guarantees high-quality, good-paying
jobs with comprehensive benefits for those who will be impacted by this transition.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall transmit a copy of this
resolution to: the Honorable Harry Kim, Mayor; the Director of the Department of Public
Works; the Mass Transit Administrator;the Director of the Planning Department; Joseph K.
Kamelamela, Corporation Counsel; and the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Commission.
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