Hawaii County has released a final draft of its plan for the island’s development over the next 25 years. After nearly a decade of preparation, the 2045 General Plan was published last week. The document outlines the county’s long-term goals and priorities for how its resources are used in the future.
The final draft describes the county’s general vision for a wide array of fields ranging from stewardship of the aina, sustainable development, transportation, housing, public services and more, while not going into specifics for any particular project. The updated plan is sorely needed, given that the county is currently operating under its 2005 plan. In particular, Planning Director Zendo Kern noted that the current General Plan does not address climate change, but the third chapter in the 2045 plan outlines a suite of climate goals and policies.
The climate change chapter describes dual goals for climate mitigation — reducing the environmental impact of various sectors such as transportation and commercial energy — and climate adaptation, improving resilience to the unavoidable natural disasters and changing weather patterns that will come as the environment degrades. Among the climate- related objectives described in the plan is a reiteration of the county’s goal to reduce its carbon footprint to net-zero emissions by 2024 and to convert its government vehicle fleet to 100% renewable-powered vehicles by 2035. This could be achieved, according to the document, by .