U.S. Sen Brian Schatz weighed in on the Thirty Meter Telescope, the proposed acquisition of Hawaii’s electric utilities, and a looming vote on the president’s Iran nuclear deal, among other topics, during a legislative update Thursday.
U.S. Sen Brian Schatz weighed in on the Thirty Meter Telescope, the proposed acquisition of Hawaii’s electric utilities, and a looming vote on the president’s Iran nuclear deal, among other topics, during a legislative update Thursday.
Schatz addressed the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce at a special luncheon at Nani Mau Gardens in Hilo, while in town during Congress’ August break.
In response to a question from the audience following his initial remarks, Schatz appeared to side with those pushing to move forward with the construction of the TMT atop Mauna Kea, a plan that has met with strong resistance from protesters since March, when construction was slated to commence.
“We have in our Constitution, our statutes, in our county ordinances … the most robust set of environmental and cultural protections in the law of any state in the union. And we’ve all collectively decided that’s really important. … Just as a developer, if they don’t get their permits, (they don’t) get to build the thing … if someone does get their permits … people don’t get to stop them … ” he said.
“I understand there is a legitimate legal question before the Supreme Court regarding the particulars at what point a contested case should have been conducted, and I understand that is before the Supreme Court. And I think it is not a slam dunk either way, on a legal level. But I think that whatever decision is made by government agencies … in this instance the Supreme Court of the state of Hawaii, those decisions have to stick.”
In response to a question about his thoughts on the proposed $4.3 billion acquisition of the Hawaiian Electric companies by Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc., Schatz said he is reserving judgment.
“I think that we have to focus on a couple of things. We need to focus on affordability and we need to focus on trying to hit our 100 percent clean energy targets, and we need to balance those two needs,” he said. “… I think there’s a broad concensus in our community the quicker we can get off of oil the better.”
However, with respect to the particulars about the decision before the state Public Utilities Commission, Schatz said he would refrain from weighing in until the public and multiple intervenors had been given the opportunity to provide testimony.
“I want to respect that process. I don’t really want to opine in advance of that because that’s the process that is before us,” he said. “But I think the PUC ought to look at what configuration is most likely to keep rates as low as possible … and make sure we hit our clean energy targets.”
In his update on his work in Washington, D.C., Schatz detailed his efforts to find common ground with Republicans in the Senate, despite strong ideological differences.
“Over the last eight months, things changed pretty significantly for me, in the sense that coming from the state of Hawaii, serving in the Legislature and being lieutenant governor, we’re obviously not accustomed to operating in an environment where Republicans are in charge, so I wasn’t exactly sure how that would shape up,” he said.
Schatz said he’s tried to focus on areas where he can build consensus with Republicans to make as much progress for Hawaii as possible.
“There are bills that I’ve introduced that don’t yet have a Republican (co-sponsor), and I think they’re very important pieces of legislation. But, you can glean from that they’re not going to pass in this particular Congress. So, I wanted to focus on two things,” he said.
“The first was developing the kinds of bipartisan relationships that would bear fruit for the state of Hawaii, and I really focused on that. And, what you have to try to do is find common ground in sort of non-ideological areas, and I’ve been able to do that. I’ve introduced more than 20 bipartisan measures.”
The second area of focus for Schatz has been on appropriations, where he has been able to make inroads by serving on the Defense Appropriations; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development; Military Construction and Veterans Administration; and the Labor and Health and Human Services subcommittees.
“One of the ways in which, as a strong Democrat, I surprised my Republican colleagues, is that I ended up voting in several instances with the majority of Republicans on certain subcommittee markups,” he said. “The defense appropriations bill actually took care of Hawaii, and so I voted with the Republicans in favor of that. I voted in favor of the Transportation and HUD budget because it did right by our HUD programs, by our transit programs, and not just the rail project, but also bus transit on our Neighbor Islands. … I actually ended up voting for the subcommittee appropriations markups eight out of 12 times.”
Schatz said that the next item on his agenda when he arrives in Washington on Tuesday will be debate over President Obama’s Iran nuclear agreement, which he intends to support.
“The vast, vast majority of people who work in this space, the experts in the arena, are for this deal,” he said. “… I think, on its merits, it is a very strong deal. Which is not to say I trust Iran, and it’s not to say I think we should empower Iran. It’s not to say I think we ought to have a reset with respect to who we are aligned with in the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth. But, this is a pretty good agreement. It’s going to eliminate 98 percent of the fissile material that Iran has.”
He also warned that if Senate Republicans are successful in overturning the deal, it would effectively dissolve support for further negotiations among the U.N. Security Council’s permanent member nations, including China, France, Russia, the U.S., the United Kingdom and Germany.
“They basically said, ‘If you dump this thing, we’re out,’” Schatz said.
The senator, who has represented Hawaii on Capitol Hill since the 2012 death of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, also lent his support to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid after being asked his opinion on the rise of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a contender for the Democratic nomination.
“I’m a strong supporter of Secretary Clinton, and will be campaigning for her as much as I possibly can in the state of Hawaii, and if I’m useful anywhere else. I’m going to try to help the secretary wherever I can,” he said. “I think she is the most well-equipped person to be president. I think it’s a dangerous and complicated world. I think Washington is increasingly dysfunctional, and I think that we need somebody with her capability and experience at all levels of government. … So I think she’s the right person.”
On Sanders, he added that “there’s no doubt he’s tapped into a sense of frustration that voters have that the system is set up unfairly, and I have no doubt that, whether he wins the nomination or not, that message is going to be front and center in the General Election.”
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.