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?...

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...

Outdoor Coal Pile in Campbell Industrial Park, O`ahu This spoof has two initial scientific statements . (1) Einstein wrote e=mc2. The law of mass–energy equivalence states that anything having mass has an equivalent amount of energy and vice versa. (2) The first law of thermodynamics, also known as Law of Conservation of Energy, states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. QUESTION :  If energy cannot be created nor destroyed, what is renewable energy , and how can we achieve 100% renewable energy ? FACTS : Renewable energy is a politically defined term , a political football . Governments across the US have a 1000 different definitions. Hawaii has several very different definitions of renewable energy since 2000. At one point just a few years ago , Hawai`i considered that energy demand displaced by energy efficiency devices was renewable energy. Destroying third world rainforests to grow geneticall...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Henry Curtis, Executive Director Life of the Land (808) 927-0709 Henry.lifeoftheland@gmail.com http://www.lifeoftheland.org/ APPEAL CHALLENGING PUC APPROVAL OF THE HU HONUA BIOMASS PROJECT LODGED IN THE HAWAII SUPREME COURT HONOLULU – Monday, August 28, 2017 -  Life of the Land has lodged an appeal to the Hawai`i Supreme Court to reverse the Public Utilities Commission ruling in favor of the HELCO-Hu Honua biomass power purchase agreement. This is the first challenge by a PUC docket participant regarding climate change and greenhouse gas emissions in Hawai`i. Life of the Land is represented by Maui attorney Lance D. Collins.           The PUC granted Life of the Land participant status in this case because of our extensive research and understanding of energy and environmental issues. “It is critical that state regulatory agencies consider climate change,” asserted Henry Curtis, Executive Director of ...

Life of the Land is Hawai`i’s own energy, environmental and community action group advocating for the people and `aina for 47 years. Our mission is to preserve and protect the life of the land through sound energy and land use policies and to promote open government through research, education, advocacy and, when necessary, litigation. The role of energy cannot be understated.  Both internationally, and in Hawai`i, expenditures on energy account for more than ten percent of all money spent. Energy drives commerce, industry, transportation, and schools. Energy costs are the major financial input for agriculture and moving water. Life of the Land firmly believes that too often problems are examined using silo mentality. Artificial man-made constructs and boundaries are imposed that fail to provide a realistic picture.  Every energy project has positive and negative economic, environmental, social, cultural, geographic, taxpayer and ratepayer impacts. Every energy project has pri...

Life of the Land filed its Statement of Position with the Public Utilities Commission on July 10, 2017. This is a web-based version, excluding many footnotes, and formatting it in a web-friendly version. This proceeding involves a Hawai'i Electric Light Company (HELCO) proposed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Hu Honua Bioenergy LLC which was filed with the Hawai'i Public Utilities Commission. After reviewing the filings in this proceeding. Life of the Land (LOL) believes this project is not in the public interest and should be rejected I. Hu Honua’s Proposal Fails to Fully Address Issues of Climate Change and the Environmental Impact of their Proposed Operations. The first two sentences of SB559 SD1 HD2 CD 1 , which Governor Ige signed into law as Act 32 , read: “ The legislature finds that not only is climate change real, but it is the overriding challenge of the 21st century and one of the priority issues of the senate. Climate change poses immediate and long-term threa...

The view is from the Lanai of the Office of the Attorney General, which wraps almost all of the way around the top floor of the State Office Tower, 235 S. Beretania Street. The 2016 State Legislature has opened with a total of 2918 bills being introduced, 1317 in the Senate and 1601 in the House.  Life of the Land has filed testimony on over 15 bills, including issues dealing the usually array of anti-environmental issues such as gutting land use laws, and removing projects from the environmental review process and/or county zoning laws.  Life of the Land is Hawai`i’s own energy, environmental and community action group advocating for the people and `aina for 47 years. Our mission is to preserve and protect the life of the land through sound energy and land use policies and to promote open government through research, education, advocacy and, when necessary, litigation. We are supporting monitors being hired by the land use commission, and moving agencies into the 21 st  ...