Update on Hawaii Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Task Force...no carbon taxes nor cap-and-trade needed

Tuesday, November 3, 2009, the Hawaii Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Task Force Investigative Committee met on Kaua'i to present the initial "Proposed GHG Reduction Work Plans for Hawaii" and take comments from the public on that. The report makes use of a baseline "Reference Projection" case and then attempts to evaluate 3 possible "Work Plans" - 1) With HCEI - 2) With a State Carbon Tax plus HCEI - 3) With a Federal Cap-and-Trade (the House version) plus HCEI.

Of particular note, the state reaches it's already ambitious 1990 level GHG emissions reduction laws/goals for 2020 and 2030 with the baseline "Reference Projection" case and would exceed those requirements by about 38% with HCEI implemented. Thus it appears that neither a State Carbon Tax nor a Federal Cap-and-Trade tax would be necessary for Hawaii to reach 1990 level goals for GHG emissions. Already a lesson for the world...timely note to Senators in Congress and bureaucrats in Copenhagen.

I was more impressed with the Task Force members and their nuanced answers to questions about the report's content. There were also good comments from business leaders in the Kaua'i community and those were clearly against a state carbon tax and for that matter Cap-and-Trade, although they seemed to understand the need to address the issue.

I suspect the better solutions for GHG emissions are not with more shortsighted and oversimplified taxes nor even cap-and-trade taxes and speculation that federal politicians, Wall Street speculators, and Eastern European-based academia have prematurely settled on. For the economy's sake, non-punitive solutions need to be of a more realistic incentive and voluntary agreement-based paradigm as with HCEI.

Link to the work of the Hawaii Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Task Force: http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/energy/planning/greenhouse.

DBEDT is holding additional hearings regarding work plans being considered by the Hawai’i Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Task Force to recommend to the Legislature at year’s end. Hearings still remaining:

Hilo Monday, Nov. 16 (5:30-7:00 P.M.) Office of Aging Conference Room – 1055 Kino’ole Street Suite 101, Hilo
Kona Tuesday Nov. 17 (5:30-7:00 P.M. ) Department of Liquor Control – Hearings Room 75-5722 Hanama Place, Suite 1107

O‘ahu Tuesday Nov. 24 (6:00-7:30 P.M.) Kawananakoa Middle School Cafeteria 49 Funchal St. (approach Funchal St. by turning from Pauoa Rd.)

Comments on work plans to Chris Baron or Colleen Miller at the Hawaii State Energy Office: cbaron@dbedt.hawaii.gov, Colleen.M.Miller@dbedt.hawaii.gov.

The draft work plans