Governor Josh Green has put together a Hawaiʻi Climate Advisory Team to study policies for disaster prevention.
It will be led by Chris Benjamin, former CEO of Alexander and Baldwin. He is now a climate advisor for Green and Climate Co-chair at Hawaiʻi Executive Collaborative.
The team was created in the last few weeks of the legislative session when two key wildfire bills died. One would have allowed Hawaiian Electric to issue ratepayer-backed bonds for wildfire mitigation and another would have created a property damage compensation fund.
Green was concerned about local companies, such as Hawaiian Electric, being bought by outside investors.
“The worst scenario, and this is important, is that any of our companies get bought out by vulture capitalists who don't care about Hawaiʻi but want to make a big margin on a quick buyout and flip a company,” he said.
“We'll all pay for that if that happens. I'm trying to prevent those guys from taking advantage of our people, our county, our state, our ratepayers, and our taxpayers.”
The Hawaiʻi Climate Advisory Team’s purpose will be to bridge the gap between the Legislature and the executive office, Green explained. He is confident that more climate mitigation and insurance measures will get passed next year.
“They'll bring in other experts. We will make sure that our insurance commissioners and others who know these markets will give us the best recommendations so that next year, we don't have any problems passing bills that can allow us to prepare for the future,” he said.
“There are going to be future fires or storms, hurricanes, there are going to be future challenges that we can't just go to the well with general funds all the time for.”
The governor pushed for a climate impact fee that would be charged to visitors upon checking into their vacation accommodations. Lawmakers again did not pass that measure this year.
Insurance is another topic that Green addressed. He was concerned about insurance companies pulling out of Hawaiʻi due to climate risks, leaving condominiums uninsured.
Green said that if the Climate Advisory Team’s recommendations are strong enough in two months, he will consider a special legislative session.
