A youth-led climate change lawsuit against the state Department of Transportation is scheduled to go to trial this summer. The state is asking lawmakers for more than $2 million to fight it in Hawaiʻi Circuit Court.
The plaintiffs in Navahine F. v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation are 14 young people from around the islands.
They claim DOT is not doing enough to lower emissions that contribute to climate change.
Transportation, including aviation, marine and ground transport, "is the largest emitting category in Hawai‘i," according to the Hawaiʻi State Energy Office's latest report on decarbonization. Those emissions have been trending up since 2010.
DOT Director Ed Sniffen said his department is taking “aggressive” action to reduce emissions. He said the lawsuit is unnecessary because the department and the plaintiffs want the same thing — to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.
"The DOT position is we are working towards ensuring that we meet the 2030 and 2045 clean energy goals," Sniffen said. "And from that perspective, we don't see the need for the case."
While Sniffen maintains that everyone is on the same side, a funding request for outside counsel to fight the lawsuit has raised some eyebrows at the state Legislature.
Transportation officials have requested $2.25 million for legal defense through the end of the trial. The request includes the services of the multinational law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius to assist the state Department of the Attorney General.
"Our co-counsel has expertise in the subject matter," the department told HPR in a statement, "which assures the best available defense of a case that attacks the State's performance of a massive legislative commitment to the environment."
Pushback from state lawmakers
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Karl Rhoads would rather see the money go toward implementing policies that reduce emissions.
"In my view, we should be spending the millions of dollars we're spending on some hotshot law firm on just starting to make the changes that we need to make," Rhoads said.
Rhoads raised his concerns with Attorney General Anne Lopez at a joint Ways and Means-Judiciary committee briefing last week.
He pointed to data that shows Hawaiʻi is not moving quickly enough towards its climate goals and questioned why the funding was necessary.
"It looks like what the state is trying to do is just put off the day where we have to do this stuff," Rhoads said about the state's climate change mitigation efforts. "But we're going to have to do it anyway."
Lopez said the move to retain outside counsel in the case was first made by a previous administration, but said she believed it was the "right decision."
She also clarified that the budget request did not come from her office.
"I did not request it. And frankly, I wasn't really aware of it until after the budget came out," Lopez said, adding that she and DOT Director Sniffen would be in further communication.
Senate Transportation Committee Chair Chris Lee questioned why Lopez was not aware of DOT's plans to request the funding.
"Is the department just throwing money in this budget for the sake of throwing money in the budget?" Lee asked.
Lopez disagreed with the characterization and said Sniffen had been actively involved with attorneys in her office throughout the process.
Though the Senate Ways and Means and the House Finance committees have final approval on budget items, related committees can make recommendations. Since DOT requested the funds, Lee and House Transportation Committee Chair Chris Todd have jurisdiction.
Lee told HPR on Wednesday that he had not yet had the opportunity to discuss the matter directly with DOT, but that he planned to bring it up in committee.
Todd's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Rhoads thinks his committee should have a say too, given the involvement of the Department of the Attorney General. Rhoads said he would not support the funding request.
His counterpart in the House sees the case differently.
"I think that the attorney general has a job to do, and that is to protect the state agencies," said Rep. David Tarnas, who chairs the House Committee on the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs. "So the attorney general is doing what she needs to do, I don't really blame her."
Still, Tarnas understands why lawmakers want to go through the budget with a fine-tooth comb. The effort to fund Maui's recovery has the Legislature looking at where else it can tighten its belt.
"These are very lean budgetary times. So this will be very difficult," Tarnas said. "If we put this money in for the hiring of outside counsel, we've got to figure out where we're going to cut money from somewhere else."
