Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 4, 1 April 2013 — Hawaiʻiʻs expanding energy crisis: What can we do? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiʻiʻs expanding energy crisis: What can we do?

One of the most important issues facing our state and the Hawaiian community is the increasing cost and availability of energy and the related fiscal crisis that we must address if we are to resolve our eolleetive need for energy and food security. This issue involves all of us, Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians. The statistics are alarming.

State data verifies that Hawai'i is the most energy- and food-insecure state in the Union. Hawai'i pays the highest cost for electricity and all predictions indicate these costs will continue to increase. This is happening because Hawai'i relies on costly fossil fuels to meet its energy needs. Hawai'i has no natural reserves of fossil fuels and so must import these fuel sources. Hawai'i consumers pay the high cost for gas and diesel as well as mounting costs for transporting these fossil fuels thousands of miles by sea on vessels powered by fossil fuel. The costs are skyrocketing with no relief in sight. The impact on our loeal and statewide economy is staggering. Hawai'i's largest export is not pineapple or papaya, but money. Hawai'i expends over $7 hillion annually to import fossil fuels. These expenditures drain our state of the capital we need to invest in the stability and growth of Hawai 'i' s small and large businesses. Because refined petroleum market pricing is volatile and unpredictable, oil prices are expected to reach $200 per barrel in 2014-2015. Will we be able to pay these increasing costs in coming years? Hawaiian families are experiencing hard times and are being forced to choose between electricity, food and fuel costs. What ean we do to change the energy picture in Hawai'i? We ean start by counting our blessings and taking stock of the natural "indigenous" energy resources we have right here at home. Hawai'i has a vast wealth of natural

energy resources in its own public trust. These energy resources have yet to be developed or inventoried. The time has eome for us, as Hawaiians, to realize that our traditional land-based resources include indigenous energy resources and are not limited to land, submerged lands and surface water. If we are to address our energy needs, we need to be proactive to identify, inventory and develop our trust energy resources for our food and energy security.

This ean be achieved through publicprivate partnerships. The private sector has energy producers as well as scientific and technological expertise. Private investors have capital the state and eounties do not have to underwrite costs for exploration, data collection and assessment. Government has the jurisdiction and authority to enact energy policy, provide tax and other legislative incentives, and oversight of our state trust lands. Through public-private partnerships, the state ean participate in joint ventures by contributing trust lands and energy resources to projects that will result in the creation of state-owned energy production and state-owned utilities. Today, we see many Hawaiians involved in energy production in all areas of the energy sector. These Hawaiians ean, and should, be part of the solutions to our state's energy crisis. OHA has a role to play, as does DHHL. These Hawaiian trusts are trustees of the vast energy resources in our homelands and ceded lands trusts. We need to ensure that these resources are inventoried and developed in responsible ways to ensure a direct benefit to Native Hawaiians. Our energy challenges are significant and pressing, but our energy bounty is plentiful and diversified. By working together we ean utilize our indigenous renewable and sustainable energy resources to meet our energy and food needs and provide an energy secure future for our mo'opuna, 'ohana and everyone who calls Hawai'i home. Aloha. ■

Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey TrustEE, Maui