Bill Text: HI SR65 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Promoting A "green Christmas" By Encouraging The Public To Select Plantable Native Trees For Holiday Celebrations To Help Address The Climate Crisis.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-11 - Referred to AEN/WTL. [SR65 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-SR65-Introduced.html

---

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	65
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

PROMOTING A "GREEN CHRISTMAS" BY ENCOURAGING THE PUBLIC to SELECT PLANTABLE NATIVE TREES FOR HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS TO HELP ADDRESS THE CLIMATE CRISIS.

 

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii faces significant and costly impacts from climate change, including more than $19,000,000,000 in coastal losses from rising seas, increasing summer heatwaves, loss of coral reefs and native species, and threats to public health and safety; and

 

     WHEREAS, warming waters are increasing the strength and number of hurricanes and storms that impact the State, contributing to the rising costs of insurance and disaster response; and

 

     WHEREAS, to protect local families, create new jobs and economic opportunities, and partner with other states and countries to address the climate crisis, the State has committed to having one hundred percent clean electricity and ground transportation and economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2045; and

 

     WHEREAS, one of the easiest and cheapest ways to complement state mitigation efforts and reduce the impacts of climate change is to plant more trees, which helps to reduce and sequester carbon in the atmosphere; and

 

     WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of Hawaii families celebrate the holidays each year by purchasing a Christmas tree that is typically imported at great cost from the continental United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii residents realize that importing evergreen trees from across the Pacific Ocean increases transportation costs and carbon emissions, and adds to the post-holiday waste stream as trees are disposed of; and

 

     WHEREAS, a cheaper and more sustainable way to celebrate the holidays would be to display indigenous trees in pots, which can be permanently planted in the ground after holiday celebrations have ended; and

 

     WHEREAS, moving away from using imported trees that must be disposed of and, instead, embracing locally-grown native trees, which continue to have ecological value after being permanently planted in the ground, can help to reduce holiday expenses for residents, promote local agriculture, increase support for small farmers, reforest arid lands, provide homes for native species, reduce ambient temperature, sequester carbon, and renew local values of aloha; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the public is encouraged to select plantable native trees for holiday celebrations to help address the climate crisis; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Greenhouse Gas Sequestration Task Force is requested to design a scalable pilot program that supports the use of plantable native trees instead of imported evergreen trees; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission and subject matter experts at the University of Hawaii having relevant experience are requested to provide support to the Greenhouse Gas Sequestration Task Force in establishing the pilot program, as necessary; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Agriculture is requested to work with interested nurseries and other stakeholders to promote the local production and marketing of trees indigenous to Hawaii for use during the holidays; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to work with public and private stakeholders to identify and prepare land for reforestation, with respect to trees that become available for planting each January as a result of the pilot program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, President of the University of Hawaii System, Co-Chairpersons of the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, and Chairperson of the Greenhouse Gas Sequestration Task Force.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

"Green" Christmas; Plantable Native Trees