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Hawaii becomes 1st US state to adopt zero carbon emissions goal

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Hawaii becomes 1st US state to adopt zero carbon emissions goal

Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed legislation that requires the state to have zero net emissions of carbon by 2045, a law that clashes with the Trump administration's rejection of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

To help reach the carbon-neutral goal, one of three bills Ige signed on June 4 will create a carbon offset program. House Bill 1986, effective on July 1, allows for carbon credits through global carbon sequestration protocols.

The goal itself is set in H.B. 2182, which also takes effect on July 1. This new law establishes a Greenhouse Gas Sequestration Task Force to set a baseline for greenhouse gas emissions and short- and long-term benchmarks for increasing greenhouse gas sequestration through agricultural and aquacultural practices and increasing tree growth in urban areas. It has similar aims as a carbon farming task force the legislature created in 2017 but expands and makes it permanent.

H.B. 1986 puts the carbon offset program under the state Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, and say revenues generated will be used for a forest stewardship fund and to improve water infrastructure.

Both require close alignment with the climate change principles and goals adopted in the Paris Agreement and Hawaii's share of obligations of the agreement that were apportioned to the United States. The law requires that Hawaii accomplish this regardless of federal action.

"One year ago, Hawaii became the first state to adopt a law aligning with the Paris Agreement to combat climate change," Ige said in a news release. "Today we take the next step and pledge to be carbon-neutral by 2045, the same year we expect to reach our goal of generating 100% of our electricity from clean, renewable sources." In 2015, Ige signed into law a measure setting a 100% renewable portfolio standard.

The implementation of the carbon goals is likely to have impacts on the state's major electric utility, Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., which is already responsible for meeting the state's renewable energy standard. The carbon goals, for example, could pose a challenge for keeping vegetation clear of utility power lines as the state puts increasing emphasis on expanding the green canopy in urban areas to improve carbon sequestration.

H.B. 2106, a third bill Ige signed, requires sea level rise analyses in environmental impact statements before building projects can begin. The rising sea level is already having an impact on shoreline roads and homes, so Hawaii faces difficult land use decisions as a result of climate change, Ige said.