Signs Abound that Renewable Energy Tide Is Rising

Fall is in the air in Hawaii if you strain hard enough to notice the signs. A more obvious indicator of change is the steady drumbeat for renewable energy development in the Aloha State, including today’s editorial in the Honolulu Advertiser, which mentions the green energy proposals being reviewed by Hawaiian Electric Company.

Energy and climate conferences seem to be everywhere. The latest blurb to land in our inbox is for “Hawaii Energy Challenge 2008” on the Big Island just before Thanksgiving. This one offers a mix of familiar names on the Hawaii scene with prominent energy and climate figures from the mainland.

The Advertiser says there's "progress on the renewable energy front," but sometimes it seems progress is being measured in proposals and conferences. A better measure will be the number of contracts actually awarded for large-scale, base load pollution-free energy that will offset oil-generated electricity here.

Let's hope that news breaks before the Winter chill.

10/7 Update: Here's something to warm the heart of Hawaii's "anti-oil activists" (shall we call ourselves that?): Oil imports were down 14.7 percent here January through July compared to last year.