SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A climate activist with Stop the Money Pipeline holds a sign during a rally in midtown Manhattan on April 17, 2021. (Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Warning of Threat to 'Humanity' and 'Natural World,' Hawaii Legislature Becomes First in US to Declare Climate Emergency
"The climate crisis is a clear and present threat for both current and future generations," said Dyson Chee of the Hawaii Youth Climate Coalition.
Apr 30, 2021
Hawaii is poised to become the first U.S. state to declare a climate emergency after the Legislature's adoption Thursday of State Senate Concurrent Resolution 44.
The bill "acknowledges that an existential climate emergency threatens humanity and the natural world, declares a climate emergency, and requests statewide collaboration toward an immediate just transition and emergency mobilization effort to restore a safe climate."
It calls on the state to commit to "a just transition toward a decarbonized economy that invests in and ensures clean energy, quality jobs, and a statewide commitment to a climate emergency mobilization effort to reverse the climate crisis."
The passage was welcomed by Hawaii Climate & Environmental Coalition member 350 Hawaii, which declared on its Facebook page: "We are the ones the future generation is counting on."
"Hawaii is the first state to join a movement largely led by cities and counties to declare a climate emergency which reflects the commitment our state Legislature continues to make to address the causes and the impacts of climate change," state Rep. Lisa Marten (D-51), who led the House version of the measure, said in a statement.
According to the Climate Mobilization Project, such declarations have been made by over 1,900 jurisdictions worldwide, including 144 within 24 U.S. states. Climate emergency declarations have previously been made by the Hawaii Island Council and Maui County Council.
Dyson Chee, advocacy director for the Hawaii Youth Climate Coalition, another member of the Hawaii Climate & Environmental Coalition, also hailed the resolution's passage, saying that "climate change is an emergency that needs to be dealt with accordingly."
"Every day we wait to take action is another day lost. The climate crisis is a clear and present threat for both current and future generations," said Chee.
At the federal level, President Joe Biden is facing calls to declare a climate emergency.
In February, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) joined with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in introducing the National Climate Emergency Act of 2021, which calls for investment in "large scale mitigation and resiliency projects" that advance "a racially and socially just transition to a clean energy economy."
"Our country is in crisis and, to address it, we will have to mobilize our social and economic resources on a massive scale," Ocasio-Cortez said at the time. "If we want to want to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past--if we want to ensure that our nation has an equitable economic recovery and prevent yet another life-altering crisis--then we have to start by calling this moment what it is, a national emergency."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Hawaii is poised to become the first U.S. state to declare a climate emergency after the Legislature's adoption Thursday of State Senate Concurrent Resolution 44.
The bill "acknowledges that an existential climate emergency threatens humanity and the natural world, declares a climate emergency, and requests statewide collaboration toward an immediate just transition and emergency mobilization effort to restore a safe climate."
It calls on the state to commit to "a just transition toward a decarbonized economy that invests in and ensures clean energy, quality jobs, and a statewide commitment to a climate emergency mobilization effort to reverse the climate crisis."
The passage was welcomed by Hawaii Climate & Environmental Coalition member 350 Hawaii, which declared on its Facebook page: "We are the ones the future generation is counting on."
"Hawaii is the first state to join a movement largely led by cities and counties to declare a climate emergency which reflects the commitment our state Legislature continues to make to address the causes and the impacts of climate change," state Rep. Lisa Marten (D-51), who led the House version of the measure, said in a statement.
According to the Climate Mobilization Project, such declarations have been made by over 1,900 jurisdictions worldwide, including 144 within 24 U.S. states. Climate emergency declarations have previously been made by the Hawaii Island Council and Maui County Council.
Dyson Chee, advocacy director for the Hawaii Youth Climate Coalition, another member of the Hawaii Climate & Environmental Coalition, also hailed the resolution's passage, saying that "climate change is an emergency that needs to be dealt with accordingly."
"Every day we wait to take action is another day lost. The climate crisis is a clear and present threat for both current and future generations," said Chee.
At the federal level, President Joe Biden is facing calls to declare a climate emergency.
In February, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) joined with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in introducing the National Climate Emergency Act of 2021, which calls for investment in "large scale mitigation and resiliency projects" that advance "a racially and socially just transition to a clean energy economy."
"Our country is in crisis and, to address it, we will have to mobilize our social and economic resources on a massive scale," Ocasio-Cortez said at the time. "If we want to want to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past--if we want to ensure that our nation has an equitable economic recovery and prevent yet another life-altering crisis--then we have to start by calling this moment what it is, a national emergency."
Hawaii is poised to become the first U.S. state to declare a climate emergency after the Legislature's adoption Thursday of State Senate Concurrent Resolution 44.
The bill "acknowledges that an existential climate emergency threatens humanity and the natural world, declares a climate emergency, and requests statewide collaboration toward an immediate just transition and emergency mobilization effort to restore a safe climate."
It calls on the state to commit to "a just transition toward a decarbonized economy that invests in and ensures clean energy, quality jobs, and a statewide commitment to a climate emergency mobilization effort to reverse the climate crisis."
The passage was welcomed by Hawaii Climate & Environmental Coalition member 350 Hawaii, which declared on its Facebook page: "We are the ones the future generation is counting on."
"Hawaii is the first state to join a movement largely led by cities and counties to declare a climate emergency which reflects the commitment our state Legislature continues to make to address the causes and the impacts of climate change," state Rep. Lisa Marten (D-51), who led the House version of the measure, said in a statement.
According to the Climate Mobilization Project, such declarations have been made by over 1,900 jurisdictions worldwide, including 144 within 24 U.S. states. Climate emergency declarations have previously been made by the Hawaii Island Council and Maui County Council.
Dyson Chee, advocacy director for the Hawaii Youth Climate Coalition, another member of the Hawaii Climate & Environmental Coalition, also hailed the resolution's passage, saying that "climate change is an emergency that needs to be dealt with accordingly."
"Every day we wait to take action is another day lost. The climate crisis is a clear and present threat for both current and future generations," said Chee.
At the federal level, President Joe Biden is facing calls to declare a climate emergency.
In February, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) joined with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in introducing the National Climate Emergency Act of 2021, which calls for investment in "large scale mitigation and resiliency projects" that advance "a racially and socially just transition to a clean energy economy."
"Our country is in crisis and, to address it, we will have to mobilize our social and economic resources on a massive scale," Ocasio-Cortez said at the time. "If we want to want to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past--if we want to ensure that our nation has an equitable economic recovery and prevent yet another life-altering crisis--then we have to start by calling this moment what it is, a national emergency."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.