HONOLULU (Eagle News) – Governor David Ige signed into law a package of bills that will advance the Aloha State’s priorities to fight climate change and to transition to a clean energy economy with a 100-percent renewable energy goal by 2045.

The bills he signed into law on Tuesday, July 5, are as follows:

House Bill 1800, which pertains to climate mitigation, sets an interim target for 2030 to be at least 50% below 2005 emissions.

House Bill 1801 relates to energy efficiency within the state government and its facilities, which include reducing electricity consumption while generating cost savings.

House Bill 2089 changes the way that the state’s renewable energy ratings are calculated. Previously, the calculations were based on electrical energy sales, rather than energy generation.

Finally, Senate Bill 2570 establishes a rebate program for those who install or upgrade their vehicle fueling system for renewable hydrogen energy. Officials predict that medium- and heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and semis will benefit the most from this incentive.

“Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the federal government’s ability to fight climate change underscores why it’s so important for states to act and lead by example,” said Ige. “That’s why I’m proud to sign these four bills today, as they ensure that Hawaii continues to move forward as a national and global leader in creating the strategies necessary to achieve a clean energy economy.”

Hawaii’s latest action took place just days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling that limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to strictly regulate emissions from power plants, a decision which critics described as a major setback in the fight against the global climate crisis.

(Alfred Acenas, EBC Hawaii-Pacific Bureau, Eagle News Service)