Hawaii residents who want to track how the state is accomplishing myriad goals in energy and resource sustainability now have a new online tool. Called the Aloha+ Challenge Dashboard, the website shows in clear, unambiguous numbers how the state is progressing on more than a dozen sustainability targets.
“The Aloha+ Challenge is a statewide leadership commitment to achieve six sustainability targets by 2030 in the areas of clean energy, local food production, natural resource management, solid waste reduction, smart growth and climate resilience and green workforce and education,” states an April 1 press release from the Hawaii Governor’s office. “The dashboard features data trends for each target, such as Hawai‘i’s annual spending on fossil fuels, the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of material recycled statewide, as well as more detailed descriptions of each sector. When available, information by county is also highlighted.”
Currently, the website only allows residents to track eight state sustainability targets, including the state’s total energy use, the total percentage of renewable energy used, greenhouse gas emissions and the average Hawaii family’s total annual energy use. Each target includes a large number showing the current goal progress, whether the number is on target or “needs improvement” and the option to click further for more detail.
For instance at press time I check out the “Total Solid Waste Reduction” target. That box showed “40.1 percent,” which means the state has so far reduced its production of solid waste by 40.1 percent. Because the actual target is 70 percent, the box has a “needs improvement” notation. Given that the state has until 2030 to achieve that 70 percent target, this isn’t surprising.
But when you look at something like “Total Energy Use”–the goal to reduce the state’s total fossil fuel use to levels in 2008 (the year the state adopted the Clean Energy Initiative), you’ll see “-2%” which is “on track” (though based on 2012 data).
“As state senator, I co-introduced the resolution to endorse the Aloha+ Challenge during the 2014 legislative session,” said Governor David Ige in the April 1 press release. “As governor, I am committed to state leadership on sustainability in every department. As a new initiative, we are spearheading a statewide Sustainable Transportation Committee to form partnerships and fund projects in support of clean energy and sustainable communities. I will continue to work closely with the mayors, OHA, state legislature, UH and other partners to make progress on the Aloha+ Challenge in the next four years. My administration prioritizes government transparency and accountability. The Aloha+ Challenge Dashboard will provide key data to the public and decision makers on how the state and counties are measuring up as we work towards 2030.”
Many of the targets on the Aloha+ Challenge Dashboard are blank, and won’t start revealing data until 2016 or 2017, when the entire website is scheduled to be fully functional.
For more information, check out the cumbersome URL Dashboard.hawaii.gov/aloha-challenge.
Photo of Gov. Ige and Hawaii’s mayors at the Aloha+ Challenge launch courtesy Hawaii Governor’s Office
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