Disappeared News

Henry Curtis sends this important notice( "CD1" is "Conference Draft 1", which means that this new text will replace what was in the bill previously ):

House Speaker Calvin Say is pushing HB 2863 Proposed CD1 which would kill all public participation, all utility reviews, all interagency approvals, all county reviews, and give one person, the DBEDT Director, power to approve renewable energy projects BEFORE the Final EIS has been written.

Imagine Waahila Ridge, Kalihiwai, Incinerators, Coal Plants, BlueEarth Maui any energy project in which the developer claimed was part of a large renewable energy project, would be extremely fast tracked an exempted from everything as long as the developer claimed that part of the project was a massive renewable energy project, regardless of what gets built.

Imagine imposing on all energy development proposals an override of the PUC, the Utility IRP Plans, the utility itself, in order to ram thru one project because the developer gave a donation or other considerations.

All checks and balances would be killed.

This proposed draft was written by Castle and Cooke.  

Isn't that awful? Castle and Cooke writing our laws and the environment be damned? What happened to democracy in Hawaii???

Ok, Henry has alerted us to the problem. Here is what you can do. Call, fax or email House and Senate conferees and ask them to reject a CD1 that gives the DBEDT Director, power to approve renewable energy projects before the Final EIS has been written.

Senate conferees are:
Menor, Chair; Hee, Inouye, Kokubun, Baker, Co-Chair(s); Trimble.
Their contact information is here.

House conferees are:
Morita, Ito, Herkes, M. Oshiro Co-Chairs; Meyer.
Their contact information is here.

Just for fun, you can email also to Speaker Calvin Say, but as I said, for fun, because will he listen to us ordinary people? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Info on the bill is here, including testimony you can look at if you like.

Please take the time to send emails to conferees right away. Many of the House conferees may be reluctant to buck the speaker, but you can convince the Senators not to go along with this bad idea.

Please don't leave it to someone else, do your part for the environment by sending some emails. If you like to write letters to the editor, how about one on this subject?

Thank you!