Chair, House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection
Statement on Fossil Fuel Ban
Governor Linda Lingle recently remarked that I was the sole legislator that killed the fossil fuel ban. I take full responsibility for not moving that legislative proposal forward as Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection but not for the reason she cited.
A simple ban on fossil fuel generation makes for an easy sound bite but does not equate to a practical implementation of state law. Details are very important. A ban in law would be inflexible and problematic if not carefully thought out. Throughout the public hearing process there was never a workable draft. The language that was discussed was poorly written and none of the various reiterations, including my own, addressed various concerns. As the legislature neared critical deadlines, the discussion had to end in order for the rest of the bill, which contained other important clean energy initiatives, to move forward.
Further, a fossil fuel ban gives the impression that we can meet all our energy needs through renewable energy sources, however, in 2030 it is projected that a substantial amount of Hawaii’s electrical generation will still rely on fossil fuels. I strongly believe that all of Hawaii's future energy options should not be shut off prematurely without a full understanding of cost, reliability and carbon footprint impacts.
Hawaii's clean energy future is a transition of moving away from our dependency on fossil fuels by incorporating energy efficiency and renewable energy. It will not happen overnight and will require that we make the right investments in various technologies at the most opportune time to minimize risk and costs. Wind and solar are intermittent sources of energy which will require some kind of storage technology which is not readily available. Currently, local production of biofuel crops is not available. Imported biofuels are more expensive and in some cases actually have a larger carbon footprint than some of the petroleum products from Hawaii's refineries.
Right now, the emphasis of Hawaii's clean energy future should be on maximizing energy efficiency, the low hanging fruit, to put off the decision and need to build new fossil fuel power plants for as long as possible, the integration of a renewable energy system into a modernized smart grid and establishing the right pricing mechanisms, including consideration of possible federal initiatives and carbon taxes. Bills being voted on by the Legislature this week address this strategy. It is too simplistic to think that we can just draw a line in the sand banning fossil fuels without factoring cost and reliability issues and not anticipate inadvertent consequences.
I am sure the Governor and I are equally passionate about moving Hawaii to a clean energy future, but we do need to be realistic and pragmatic in crafting laws that will frame our clean energy opportunities long into the future.
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