life of the lands

Aloha!               We hope that this finds you well. The Board of Directors and Kat and myself want you to know how grateful we are for your support of Life of the Land’s work to protect all that make the Hawaiian Islands one of the most special places on the planet. Mahalo for being a beacon of hope in these times when we are witness to the preventable devastation of the Amazon and the rapid dismantling of environmental protection laws.               We write today to humbly ask for your support specifically since Life of the Land represents the community in the first two climate change litigation proceeding s in Hawai`i. The first major climate change action that LOL is involved in is the Hu Honua project in Pepe`ekeo that proposes to raze forests to burn wood in order to produce electricity.  The Amazon is being set on fire, What don’t they get?    Bill McKibben said, “ "Of all the solutions to climate change, ones that involve trees make people the happiest. Earlier this ye

Posted on September 6, 2019 Hu Honua Bioenergy proposed chopping down and burning forests to generate electricity in 2008. Life of the Land, founded in February 1970, has been in 50  Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission regulatory proceedings including 10 dealing with BioEnergy. The Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission twice approved the Hu Honua – Hawai`i Electric Light Company (HELCO) contract. The Hawai`i Supreme Court upheld Life of the Land`s appeal remanding the case back to the Commission.  The court ruled that Life of the Land has a  constitutional right to a “clean and healthy environment," and that the Commission has been mandated to examine greenhouse gases since 2011. The Public Utilities Commission is in the initial stages of a greenhouse gas contested case proceeding.  The parties are HELCO, Hu Honua, and the Consumer Advocate. The participants are Life of the Land, Tawhiri, and Hamakua Energy. The Commission is requiring Hu Honua to conduct a life cycle assessment in