In Memory of Carol Cam, Lahaina, Maui
In Memory of Carol Cam, Lahaina
Carol was a much admired and appreciated member of the Maui Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. Over the years she contributed as a Group Lead, contacted legislators over 50 times, met with legislators, was a member of the presenters & schedulers action team and the monthly calling campaign.
Doug recalls that Carol immersed herself in the nuances of carbon pricing policy - she dug into the far reaches of the CCL website and other resources - sharing her knowledge with other folks. Carol spent countless hours onboarding and outreach. As a volunteer Carol traveled to Washington DC in 2019 to meet with US Legislators in person.
Here is an article in Maui Now about their lobbying trip in 2020.
The photo has quite a few familiar faces -
Left to right - Peter Joseph (CA Marin), Noel, Molly, Sen. Hirono, Ron, Sheryl, ?, Zoe and Carol
Carol Cam, Sheryl Roberts and Molly Whiteley represented an organization known as the Citizens Climate Lobby. They met with US Rep. Mazie Hirono during their recent visit to Washington DC. Courtesy photo.
Maui Lobbyists Travel to Washington DC to Back Climate Bill
January 7, 2020 · 4:33 PM PST
Three Mauians, all supporters of a new Maui environmental group, recently completed a journey that put them in face-to-face discussions with Hawaiʻi Senators and Congressional Representatives.
Lobbyists–Carol Cam, Sheryl Roberts and Molly Whiteley–represented an organization known as the Citizens Climate Lobby or CCL. The group has nearly 200 supporters on Maui, and nationwide CCL has more than 160,000 members with chapters in all 50 states. The Maui contingent of environmental educators and activists are supporting the legislative initiative known as the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend bill.
The bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives and has garnered the endorsement of over 65 elected members. According to the CCL leadership “the bill aims to remove two major obstacles to effectively dealing with” what the group calls “the increasingly deadly effects of climate change.”
The Energy Innovation section of the Bill would create a “surcharge” on purchases of industrial quantities of fossil fuels including coal, oil, gas, and others.
The group explains: “This surcharge will be paid by big corporations and polluters and go directly into a trust fund established by the Bill. This is where the Carbon Dividend component comes into play. Under this provision the funds generated by the surcharge are then returned to US citizens in the form of direct payments by check from the trust fund. Thus big fossil fuel users – power-plants, automotive factories, other manufacturing companies, etc. will thus have to pay to pollute. They are likely to then add the surcharge to the prices of their products. Consumers will be protected against this increase by their payments from the trust fund.”
CCL, the Columbia University Center On Global Energy Policy and other academic and policy authorities predict that, when enacted the Bill will result in a reduction in US greenhouse gas emissions at or around 40% in eight to 12 years.
Carol contributed letters, OpEds and Testimony in support of carbon cashback and other efforts to preserve and heal the environment.
Below is a sampling of her contributions. She wrote 5 letters and editorials in 2022 - in support of the oceans, against SB2510 - the firm renewables bill, in support of national carbon pricing with cashback, in support of House Bill 2278 - last years carbon cashback, and a call to action for local and national solutions.
Thank you Carol. As we carry on your spirit is with us.
Your friends
The Maui News
6/17/22 - Letters to the Editor - Government protection of ocean must expand
By Carol Cam
Financial leaders often warn there will be economic dangers if we ignore climate change.
Some world leaders are moving to achieve solutions. But U.S. leaders must move faster both to reduce emissions and to protect the natural environment.
While about 12 percent of the land around the world is now under some form of protection, less than 6 percent of the ocean is protected. There are strategic areas for conservation in the ocean that can protect against ocean acidification and climate change.
In 2005, Hawaii Rep. Ed Case introduced the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Marine Refuge Act to protect those islands as a national marine refuge.
In 2006, President George W. Bush achieved the bill’s goals by public proclamation to create Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is currently the world’s largest protected marine area since it was expanded by President Barack Obama in 2016. Another strategic marine environment that also could be officially protected is the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, which is an even larger area.
On June 1, 2022, the Pacific Remote Islands Coalition, a Hawaii group of researchers, educators, deep-sea voyagers, native and community leaders petitioned President Biden to further expand the monument.
Gov. David Ige also has expressed full support to expand the highly protective monument that is a marine area 900 miles south of Hawaii around Howland and Baker islands, Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll.
Urge government to expand protection for the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Carol Cam
Lahaina
Update - January 2023 Pacific Remote Islands Coalition
6/4/22 - The Maui News - Letters to the Editor - Vital reasons for Ige to veto SB 2510
By Carol Cam
There are vital reasons for Gov. Ige to veto SB 2510 — the 33 percent firm renewables bill. SB 2510 would force every island grid to use polluting, non-carbon-sequestering biomass. Of the other 66 percent of each island’s energy grid, each renewable energy, except geothermal, would be limited to 45 percent of the grid’s energy generation.SB 2510 would be at cross-purposes to the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, and that could be unconstitutional.
U.N. Climate Action findings stress that the multiple types of biomass are a limited resource. “Renewable energy is energy derived from natural sources that are replenished at a higher rate than they are consumed.” This is not the case with biomass, which is consumed at a higher rate than it can be replenished or will again be able to sequester carbon.
Scientists wrote in “The Hill” that: “Declaring biomass to be carbon neutral (or renewable) with no regard for the health consequences may set us onto a path toward further investing in an energy system with an already-serious health burden, ambiguous climate benefits and environmental justice issues in the supply chain. Committing to alternatives, or better yet, making major energy decisions using a systems-level approach with both climate and public health in mind, can set us on a pathway toward an energy system that is healthier, more just and more compatible with the recommendations of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”
If SB 2510 were to pass, it would put thousands at risk, particularly on Maui, where there are fewer renewable energy options.
Carol Cam
Lahaina
April 28, 2022 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Island Voices - The growing costs of burning fossil fuels - Climate change wreaks havoc on the environment and our wallets
By Carol Cam and Madeleine Par
From rising inflation to soaring prices for home and flood insurance to the cost of recovery after unprecedented storms, wildfires, and flooding, climate change creates a huge financial burden for Americans. International weather events impact raw materials supply, which in turn raises Hawaii prices. The Ukrainian war exacerbates global oil prices along with gas and electricity prices in Hawaii. Extreme weather from CO2 emissions warming our planet played a role in the growth of 2021 inflation.
Gasoline prices hovered near record levels last week in Hawaii. The average price of regular unleaded gasoline was $5.24. In 2021, most Hawaii prices increased: 32.6% for energy; 25.0% for electricity; and 5.2% for all items — less food and energy. If that wasn’t enough, the cost of rebuilding from climate-related storms, floods, and wildfires is skyrocketing.
The increase of Hawaii’s extreme rainstorms has brought more flash floods destroying homes, bridges, dams and causing mass evacuations. Climate scientists say they are occurring more frequently as the planet warms. On Kauai, Hurricane Lane in 2018 brought 49.69 inches of rainfall in 24 hours, breaking the U.S. rainfall record. Flash flooding and landslides covered roads, damaging or destroying 532 houses, and costing over $125 million.
By 2100, with high emissions, sea level could rise 8.2 feet above 2000 levels. With much reduced emissions, it is projected to rise 1-2 feet. Currently, Hawaii expects to spend over $6 billion in sea level rise mitigation, to improve ports and canals, dredge and restore wetlands. Flood-submerged land endangers water, sewage, electrical infrastructure, marine ecosystems and coral reefs.
Moreover, Hawaii wildfires have increased for many years, harming environments from mountains to ocean depths. Fires remove vegetation, and with heavy rainfall, exposed soil gets carried downstream, causing erosion and damage to marine ecosystems and coral reefs.
How much are we willing to let climate change affect our quality of life? Climate catastrophes will soon outpace our ability to recover and adapt, and the financial costs will keep rising.
Air pollution from fossil fuels is linked to millions of deaths globally, yet polluting industries get a free pass to emit heat-trapping gasses, leading to yet more warming, extreme weather and disasters already harming us. This market failure means the true cost of carbon gets paid elsewhere. Frontline communities vulnerable to climate change impacts are burdened with soaring homeowner and flood insurance in places once deemed low risk.
Encouragingly, a new report from Stanford University demonstrates that transitioning from unpredictable fossil fuels to cleaner renewables would reduce per capita household annual energy costs by around 63%. It would create millions of new jobs and save lives by reducing pollution.
The World Bank believes the problem in the U.S. and globally is not carbon pricing, but a lack of it. They cite a large UN study that finds carbon prices can meet the Paris agreement to keep global temperatures below 2°C. The IMF proposes that an international carbon price floor agreement between the largest emitters — Canada, China, European Union, India, United Kingdom and United States, could achieve a 23% reduction in global emissions below baseline by 2030.
With clean energy and electric vehicles destined to become cheaper and more popular, demand for fossil fuels will lessen. A federal carbon fee levied on polluting industries would speed up this essential transition and let the market determine which clean technologies emerge. Monies from the fee could be returned as a “carbon cashback” check to American households, providing invaluable monthly support.
With Congress considering our energy future, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Hawaii urges U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono to support carbon pricing with cashback for households.
Carol Cam, is a volunteer with the Maui chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby; Madeleine Para is executive director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
March 10, 2022 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Island Voices - Adopt carbon cashback bill to make transition to clean energy
By Carol Cam
Climate change affects the lives of most Hawaii residents, often in untold ways: elders suffer severe dehydration and strokes, students experience oppressive heat, drought and wildfires occur more often, coral reefs die, and storms damage infrastructure and interrupt goods and services.
Hawaii needs cost-effective climate action that protects low- and middle-income households; it needs to transition quickly to clean energy and transportation. House Bill 2278, a bill in the state Legislature, can accomplish this by putting a gradually rising tax on fossil fuels and passing the collected money to residents as a refundable tax credit. This will help residents adapt to the price increase of goods and services while allowing a dramatic reduction in climate-changing emissions.
HB 2278 is a carbon cashback policy and is the most cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed needed to help Hawaii achieve its clean energy goals. The bill has passed all state House committees and has moved to the Senate. It is now vital that all senators support it; the bill must pass, and eventually go to Gov. David Ige to be signed into law.
A carbon fee is the least intrusive government solution. It requires much less government than regulations or government spending. There is broad agreement among thousands of economists that carbon pricing will effectively reduce emissions. Real-world examples back this up. As of September 2021, 27 countries have implemented a carbon tax. There are more than 60 carbon pricing initiatives implemented by governments across the globe, covering 21.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.
The consequences of inaction are costly. If we don’t proactively address climate change, we continue to see the rising price tags for disaster response, crop insurance, flood prevention, disease and geopolitical turmoil. By aggressively reducing emissions, we can prevent even more expensive climate disasters afterwards.
Solving climate change will require big investment in new emissions reduction infrastructure and technology:
wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, building retrofits, etc. While most investments in innovation will come from the private sector (corporations, small businesses, households, etc.), some will be funded by public investments at the local, state and national levels. Innovation and investment in clean energy are important but must be focused on rapidly reducing emissions. A price on carbon emissions creates an even marketwide price signal, encouraging all innovations to reduce emissions.
Hawaii has the opportunity to contribute to significant emissions reductions and eliminate its dependence on fossil fuel imports while helping its residents along the way.
All of us need to quit using fossil fuels soon and quickly. Carbon pricing is a very effective and fair way to do this.
Hawaii has been a leader in climate action. When we pass a carbon pricing policy, we will not only contribute to critical climate action. We will inspire our nation to do the same.
I urge all Hawaii senators to vote for HB 2278.
ISLAND VOICES
Carol Cam, a clean-energy advocate, is a co-leader for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Maui Chapter
January 15, 2022 - The Maui News - Unite state, country on carbon pricing
by Carol Cam
We see the results of climate change in extreme weather causing crop failures, coral reef die-off, global unrest and migration. People and fellow creatures die from heat and natural disasters. International scientists, economists, military analysts and world leaders agree that global warming beyond 1.5 degrees centigrade will trigger climate tipping points that will threaten life. The most effective resolution to climate crises is to decrease global warming by ceasing to use fossil fuel. Instead, we must use solar, wind, hydropower, ocean tidal power, geothermal, green hydrogen and other innovative energy tools.
Carbon pricing can effectively discourage and decrease fossil fuel production and use. Twelve states and 23 countries have carbon pricing, yet Hawaii and the U.S. as a whole are slow to adopt it. In March 2020, Hawaii’s Senate passed a carbon pricing bill that the House still needs to pass. Hawaii has the nation’s highest electricity and natural gas rates, despite having the third-lowest electricity consumption of all states. Hawaii will continue to suffer from high energy prices if it depends on imported fossil fuels.
In Congress, the current Build Back Better bill has more consensus on the climate provisions than on the rest of the bill.
Furthermore, climate scientists warn the transition to renewable energy isn’t fast enough. Climate Central news reported that since 2020, a 67 percent increase in major power outages was caused by climate events and the Pentagon said climate change threatens U.S. security.
I suggest readers volunteer with Citizens Climate Lobby.
Carol Cam
Lahaina