Gov. David Ige signed two bills into law that seek to make Hawaii a greener place to live. Photo: Hawaii Public Radio
Hawaii is a little different than most of the States. Sure, it’s technically PART of the U.S., but it somehow, it doesn’t really feel like it. It’s like Puerto Rico, only it’s incorporated. And Hawaii, in all of its glory, just became the first state to make parts of the Paris Agreement law.
When Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement, most of the world was shocked. “The Paris Agreement handicaps the United States economy in order to win praise from the very foreign capitals and global activists that have long sought to gain wealth at our country’s expense,” Trump said, somehow twisting a global accord that was widely celebrated into a plot against the United States. “They don’t put America first. I do, and I always will.” Hell, North Korea called the move selfish. [It is] “the height of egoism and moral vacuum seeking only their own well-being, even at the cost of the entire planet,” said Pyongyang in a statement that’s a little rich coming from a country that continually threatens to nuke everything. “The selfish act of the US does not only have grave consequences for the international efforts to protect the environment, but poses great danger to other areas as well.”
But much of America is worried that the President’s outlook on climate is not only bad for the environment but bad for the economic future of the country. Due to mechanization and less demand, coal jobs have been dwindling for years now. Renewables, however, have been on a serious uptick. There are a few problems with EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s claim last week that 50,000 jobs have been added to the coal industry. First, it’s just plain wrong. Since October of 2016, there’ve been somewhere around 1,000 jobs added. The entire coal industry, at least according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (is that fake news, too?) is comprised of about 50,000 people. Second, the coal industry makes up just .03 percent of the economy, so this strangely strong push to bring it back makes almost no sense. But that’s life under Trump, I suppose.
Which is why, on Tuesday afternoon, Governor David Ige signed a couple of bills that will make Hawaii green again. “As an island state, we are especially aware of the limits of our natural environment. We see the impacts of our actions,” Ige said. “In this day and age, it is time for states and governors to lead.”
Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL
The bills do a couple of things. According to Hawaii News Now, one “expands strategies and mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide in alignment with the principles and goals adopted in the Paris agreement,” while the other “establishes the Carbon Farming Task Force within the Office of Planning to identify agricultural and aquacultural practices to improve soil health and promote carbon sequestration in the state’s agricultural and aquaculturally sectors.”
Chances are that Hawaii is just the first in a line of states to do something similar. Many mayors and governors have pledged to stick with the climate accord. Here’s a list of all the states and cities that are planning on ignoring the President when it comes to the Paris Agreement. After all, the whole thing was voluntary in the first place.
States
— Charlie Baker, Massachusetts
— Jerry Brown, California
— Kate Brown, Oregon
— Andrew Cuomo, New York
— John Hickenlooper, Colorado
— David Y. Ige, Hawaii
— Jay Inslee, Washington
— Dannel P. Malloy, Connecticut
— Terry McAuliffe, Virginia
— Gina M. Raimondo, Rhode Island
Cities
— Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Boston
— Bill de Blasio, New York City
— Rahm Emanuel, Chicago
— Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles
— Jim Kenney, Philadelphia
— Mitch Landrieu, New Orleans
— Ed Murray, Seattle
