HR20

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Energy has a long-established presence in Hawaii through collaboration among its various offices and national laboratories with state and county agencies, the private sector, and local communities; and

WHEREAS, in 2008, the State and the United States Department of Energy signed a memorandum of understanding that established the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative and created a long-term partnership to provide a replicable global model that transforms the way that renewable energy efficiency resources are planned and used through the substantive transformation of the financial, regulatory, legal, and institutional systems that govern energy planning and delivery within the State; and

WHEREAS, in 2010, the Legislature passed Act 73, Session Laws of Hawaii 2010, to statutorily establish the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program and designate the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism as the lead agency for the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative; and

WHEREAS, in 2014, the State and the United States Department of Energy recommitted to the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative partnership through an updated memorandum of understanding to transition from fossil fuel imports in favor of local renewable resources and efficiency to develop "a national model for job creation, industrial transformation, environmental compliance, and technological innovation"; and

WHEREAS, since recommitting to the partnership, Hawaii has established itself as a global leader on energy policy by being the first state to:

(1) Commit to:

(A) Achieving a one hundred percent renewable portfolio standard through Act 97, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015;

(B) Mitigating and adapting to climate change consistent with the Paris Agreement through Act 32, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017; and

(2) Declare a climate emergency through Senate Resolution No. 44, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, (2021); and

WHEREAS, the Legislature enacted Act 122, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019, which created the Hawaii State Energy Office as an independent agency administratively attached to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and tasked it with the functions and responsibilities for a clean energy economy, including leading the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, and whose Chief Energy Officer is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative and the State's establishment of the first one hundred percent renewable portfolio standard by 2045 was followed by twelve states adopting similar targets, and the Biden-Harris Administration's national target for a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 and carbon neutrality economy-wide by 2050; and

WHEREAS, in 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration established the Justice40 Initiative, a whole-of-government approach to ensure that federal agencies work with states and local communities to deliver at least forty percent of overall benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities; and

WHEREAS, with respect to the nation as a whole, Hawaii has a disproportionate number of communities experiencing low income with high or persistent poverty; high unemployment and underemployment; linguistic isolation; high housing, energy, and transportation cost burdens; disproportionate environmental stressors and impacts from climate change; and other effects that define disadvantaged communities for purposes of the Justice40 Initiative; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Energy Office is refocusing the objectives of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative to more expressly incorporate equity and justice in energy policy through initiatives such as the Climate Ready Hawaii VISTA and Clean Energy Wayfinders programs; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii is a member of the Pacific ohana of nations and islands, which also have large numbers of similarly disadvantaged communities and are of strategic importance to the United States; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii is a center for public diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region and the host to the United States Indo-Pacific Command and facilities for each of the six service branches of the Department of Defense; and

WHEREAS, in 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration established an Indo-Pacific national security strategy that includes an economic framework to encourage innovation, strengthen economic competitiveness, produce good-paying jobs, rebuild supply chains, and expand economic opportunities through investments, such as those in decarbonization and clean energy; and

WHEREAS, the 2022 Indo-Pacific national security strategy seeks to build resiliency by developing 2030 and 2050 targets, strategies, plans, and policies consistent with limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius; and

WHEREAS, the interests of the State and the Biden-Harris Administration are aligned to transform Hawaii's energy system to promote clean energy in the State and throughout the Indo-Pacific region; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the Hawaii State Energy Office is requested to engage the United States Department of Energy to establish a permanent presence within the State of Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor, Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, as well as all departments and agencies with energy-related duties and responsibilities, are requested to support the Chief Energy Officer in this endeavor; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii State Energy Office is requested to submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024 on the status of the engagement and the terms of any proposed agreement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the United States Secretary of Energy; members of the Hawaii congressional delegation; Governor; Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and Chief Energy Officer of the Hawaii State Energy Office.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Hawaii State Energy Office; United States Department of Energy; Biden-Harris Administration

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	20
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII