June 23 Meeting: The Rush to Biofuels

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Life of the Land Hawaii Executive Director Henry Curtis

Notes from June Program—Hawaii Gets the Triple Whammy

Henry Curtis, Executive Director of Life of the Land, spoke about his group’s intervention in the Public Utilities Commission case regarding HECO’s Biofuel’s Contract with Imperium Renewables. They plan to import palm oil from Malaysia, ship it to Seattle for refining in Imperium’s Grays Harbor plant, and then ship it back to Honolulu. Henry spoke about the worldwide food versus fuel debate, which
Imperium called a “silly food versus fuel argument.”

Henry reported that the U.S. gets 1.8% of its electricity from oil, while Hawaii is 78% dependent on oil for electricity. This means that the skyrocketing oil prices produce a triple whammy for Hawaii:

   • Outrageous gas prices
   • Escalating electricity rates AND
   • The rapidly rising cost of food.

We should be encouraging the use of energy resources plentifully available here: sun, ocean waves and wind.

The thick book on the podium is the Life of the Land filing before the DCCA (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs) that Henry mentioned in his talk. A copy may be downloaded here. The Life of the Land website is www.lifeofthelandhawaii.org .