THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	124
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Urging the department of agriculture to Develop policies to discourage the development of geothermal energy on important agricultural lands.

     WHEREAS, the State has an unsustainable dependence on fossil fuels which threatens the economic and environmental future well-being of the State; and

     WHEREAS, establishing and maintaining sustainable energy resources and developing a self-sufficient energy economy is vital to the State's economic and environmental future; and

     WHEREAS, the State, through its clean energy initiative, has established the goal of achieving one hundred percent electricity generation from renewable resources by 2045; and

     WHEREAS, support for the further development of geothermal energy, a cleaner, renewable energy source which currently provides approximately twenty-two percent of Hawaii island's total distributed electricity but which has the potential for greater energy production across the State, is a necessary element in moving the State toward achieving its one hundred percent renewable energy goal; and

     WHEREAS, geothermal fields require less physical space than other types of energy production facilities, but still require approximately one to eight acres of land per megawatt of production; and

     WHEREAS, the State also has an unsustainable dependence on imported food; and

     WHEREAS, the Governor, through the sustainable Hawaii initiative, has established a goal of doubling local food production by 2020; and

     WHEREAS, the State's ability to double local food production and create a more sustainable, self-sufficient agricultural economy requires the preservation of agricultural lands specifically for the purpose of supporting agricultural activities aimed at food production; and

     WHEREAS, pursuant to article XI, section 3 of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, the State is required to identify and designate important agricultural lands to conserve and protect agricultural lands, promote diversified agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency, and assure the availability of agriculturally suitable lands; and

     WHEREAS, the desire to support the development of renewable geothermal energy cannot take precedence over the State's duty and responsibility to protect and maintain important agricultural lands for agricultural production; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Agriculture, pursuant to section 141-1(9), Hawaii Revised Statutes, has the authority to manage, administer, and exercise control over any public lands designated as important agricultural lands; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Agriculture is urged to develop policies that discourage the development of geothermal energy on important agricultural lands; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture, and Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Important Agricultural Lands; Discourage Development of Geothermal Energy; Department of Agriculture