HAPA Blog/Library
WIN! People Power Defeated the Water Theft Bill!
On April 9, 2019, a broad coalition, literally hundreds from across Hawaiʻi, filled the Senate chambers and rotunda to advocate for the protection of our precious waters and to say no to corporate water theft. And for the moment, it appears that HB 1326 - the water theft bill – is dead.
Protect Our Communities from Pesticide Drift! - Support HB 929 - Due 1/31
To protect our communities from pesticide drift, we must improve pesticide incident response and deter future misuse by increasing penalties for pesticide use violations. You can help by submitting testimony in support of HB 929.
Land Board Re-Issues Temporary Permits to Divert WaiʻAleʻAle Streams
Decision low-balls water returned to stream, ignores its cultural significance.
H.A.P.A. Closes out 2018 Celebrating Public Recognition of Founder, Gary Hooser
It is with much joy and pride that we announce that H.A.P.A.'s founder, former Kauaʻi State Senator and Councilmember Gary Hooser was honored recently at a gathering hosted by the statewide environmental advocacy group, Hawaiʻi’s Thousand Friends.
Celebrate the Rulings for Public Health this Week, and Then, GO VOTE!!!
If perhaps the tides are beginning to turn for communities suffering public health impacts from dangerous pesticides, Hawaiʻi is the fringe on the wave of change.
Governor Ige Signs SB3095 into Law, Banning All Use of Chlorpyrifos
Honolulu, Hawai‘i: Hawai'i made history today when Governor David Ige, watched by representatives of the community from across the islands, signed into law Senate Bill 3095, banning all uses of chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxin that has been banned for home use for over 10 years because of its known impacts on the developing brains of children.
Hawaii Did What Pruitt's EPA Wouldn't
Hawaii did what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Scott Pruitt had failed to do: it banned the neurotoxin chlorpyrifos. It took several years of grassroots activism, ongoing court battles, and a high profile advocacy campaign by a determined coalition, as well as leadership from key legislative champions.
DowDuPont Is Sponsoring a Conversation on the Future of Food at the Atlantic
I recently learned that the Atlantic, a publication which I read on a regular basis, is hosting a conversation on the future of food called, Harvest: Transforming the Food We Eat sponsored by DowDuPont. We at HAPA felt that it was important to express our frustrations to the Atlantic that a publication with such high journalistic integrity would choose to align itself with DowDupont, a company that has so recklessly endangered members of our community, by spraying large quantities of restricted use pesticides next to homes, schools and other sensitive areas.
We Lost, We Won, We Will Appeal – (Summary of Yesterdays Results in Court) – Ke Kauhulu O Mana Versus the State Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) and Syngenta
Reflection's from HAPA Board President Gary Hooser on the November 9th ruling in Ke Kauhulu o Mana versus the State Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) and Syngenta.
Kaua`i Groups Sue State to Enforce Environmental Review Law
A Kauaʻi-based community group, Ke Kauhulu o Mana, have filed a lawsuit against the State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and Syngenta. The suit calls for enforcement of Hawaii Revised Statute (HRS) Chapter 343, which requires an environmental assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for any significant actions or development proposed on publicly-owned, coastal and conservation-zoned lands.
Leading with Integrity
In these times, it is important to find beacons of hope. The graduates of HAPA’s second Kuleana Academy class shine a very welcome and bright light.
The Court Has Ruled. It's Time to Take It to the State.
Yesterday, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued rulings in the lawsuits against three of our Hawai‘i counties by these pesticide companies. The Court invalidated county ordinances in Kaua‘i, Maui, and Hawai‘i counties that sought to enforce public health protections (such as buffer zones, pesticide use disclosure and environmental impact studies).