Despite serious misgivings, the Hawaii County Council on Wednesday signed onto a pledge by Mayor Mitch Roth to work with two other cities to develop hydrogen infrastructure.
Roth currently is in California, where he intends to sign a memorandum of understanding with government officials from Lancaster, Calif., and the county’s sister city, Namie, Japan, to form a Pacific Hydrogen Alliance.
The partnership, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, will promote the development of hydrogen technology and facilitate the sharing of practices to reduce dependence on fossil fuels between the participating cities.
But a resolution supporting Roth to make that agreement ruffled council members’ feathers. The resolution was scheduled to be heard by the council Wednesday without having passed through any council committees — two days before Roth is set to sign the memorandum.
Kohala Councilwoman Cindy Evans initially said she couldn’t support the resolution because it was too vague for the council to endorse on such short notice.
The resolution is barely two pages long, with the most pertinent clause simply stating, “this agreement will establish the ‘Pacific Hydrogen Alliance’ (PHA) where parties will work together to implement hydrogen project deployment to advance towards a hydrogen society.”
“If it’s not clear what we’re agreeing to, then it should be delayed and brought back when there’s more clarity,” Evans said, adding that it was “very strange” the council didn’t receive the resolution weeks ago.
Kona Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas agreed, saying she was uncomfortable with the urgency with which the council was apparently expected to pass the resolution.
“This is just poor planning and scheduling,” Villegas said. “We have to authentically prove that we’re being as transparent as possible.”
Doug Adams, director of the county’s Department of Research and Development, appeared via video at the meeting and emphasized that, as a resolution, the document does not bind the council to provide funding or perform or endorse any particular action by the county.
Despite being nonbinding, the resolution received a substantial amount of written testimony from residents opposed to the concept, to the extent that Council Chair Heather Kimball opened the meeting with an exhortation for people to remain civil in their testimony.
“This resolution/MOU is the county stating that we have decided to become a ‘hydrogen society,’ which we absolutely have NOT,” wrote Honokaa resident David Hunt. “It is positioning the county to receive funding and support to embark on this path when we never committed to it in the first place. It becomes increasingly difficult to unwind ill-conceived initiatives once funds are accepted. This commitment to hydrogen could well lead to missed opportunities regarding other more appropriate energy solutions.”
Much of the other testimony the council received on the matter — all of which was negative — drew comparisons to a previous resolution that was passed in March, which pledged to have all municipal waste converted on-island into clean materials by 2026, following meetings between council members and a private company that claims to be able to meet that goal.
Several form letters submitted for Wednesday’s meeting stated that both the hydrogen and the waste management resolutions indicate that the council often “rushes to ‘innovate’ without a diligent process.”
Other letters also raised environmental concerns tied to the generation and storage of hydrogen, adding that solar power seems to be a more viable green energy source based on current technologies.
But despite their discomfort with the resolution, the council largely voted to pass it, with only North Kona Councilman Holeka Inaba voting against it.
An emotional Hilo Councilwoman Jenn Kagiwada said she felt the council had little choice but to rubber-stamp the resolution, because Adams had said that delaying the signing at this stage would be a “black eye” on the county.
Kagiwada asked Adams to convey the council’s displeasure to the mayor.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
