Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa understands the need to protect our environment for the generations to come.

As a kamaʻāina and as a mother, Kirstin’s passion to mālama (care for) our Hawaiʻi is evident. In recognition of her work to protect our environment and engagement in local and global sustainability efforts, Rep. Kahaloa was named Vice Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems and a member of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection – in her first term at the Capitol.

PRIORITIES TO CARE FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT

• Support our local farmers and food producers.
  Agriculture is an economic sector that needs nurturing at the policy level. Local food feeds the community and keeps dollars in Hawaiʻi. It can also be sustainably done and support our environment too. Growing this industry can create more jobs and economic diversity. Value added production and manufacturing can also grow our economy as we will have shelf stable products that could be shipped around the world.
  
  

• Focus on cesspool conversion to protect our groundwater and shoreline resources.
  Existing state regulations mandate that 88,000 cesspools across Hawaiʻi be upgraded, converted, or closed by 2050 – and a significant number of those cesspools are in West Hawaiʻi. Taking action on these cesspools is important for the health of our groundwater resources and nearshore waters, and we will not meet that 2050 deadline without significant public investment or a substantial financing mechanism for families and small businesses.
  
  

• Move with purpose toward renewable energy independence.
  Blessed with a variety of resources to generate our own energy, Hawaiʻi Island is in prime position to end our addiction to imported fossil fuels and reduce our carbon footprint. With multiple renewable energy projects on the island canceled or stalled, we must identify the hurdles and solutions to achieve Hawaiʻi’s bold goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045.
  
  

• Encourage composting as a way to enrich soil while diverting waste from the landfill.
  Whether at the backyard, community or municipal scale, we can compost more and throw away less. State policies can encourage more composting while balancing environmental health concerns.
  
  

• Explore on-island recycling.
  As islands, there are only so many places to take our waste, and with the rising cost of fuel it is more difficult to export our recyclables. We need to incentivize waste reduction within households and reward businesses that reduce waste. We can create new economies within waste management. Innovation and entrepreneurship in this area is critical for Hawaiʻi. 
  
  

• Responsibly develop new water sources in Kona.
  
  

• Reexamine our zoning and land use decisions of long ago.
  We must explore today’s best practices of walkable, transit-connected, livable communities. These concepts could inform lower infrastructure costs for affordable housing developments, and reduce the environmental impacts of urban sprawl and vehicle dependence.
  
  

• Work toward local and global sustainability goals.
  Hawaiʻi has long been a leader in sustainability, and many of our local and global sustainability goals are based in island thinking and island methods of resource management and conservation. We must continue to work to achieve Hawaiʻi’s Aloha+ Challenge goals as well as the global United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and we should examine projects and legislation through those lenses.