Hawaiʻi will create a comprehensive roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its transportation sector in order to settle a lawsuit brought by a group of young plaintiffs demanding more action on climate change.
In the lawsuit, Navahine F. v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, the young plaintiffs argued that state transportation policies promoted the continued use of fossil fuels, violating their right to a “clean and healthful environment,” which is protected under the state constitution.
Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green announced the settlement Thursday, thanking the plaintiffs, who were between 9-18 years old when the case was filed in 2022, for taking action.
“You have a constitutional right to fight for life sustaining climate policy, and you have mobilized our people,” Green said.
Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, called the settlement “extraordinary,” noting that it was the first youth-led climate case in the nation in which the plaintiffs and the defendants had reached an agreement.
“This is an outstanding climate win,” Gerrard said.
Hawaiʻi passed a state mandate in 2018 to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. Although the state has made progress in electrifying its energy system, the transportation sector has lagged behind. Collectively, aviation, marine, and ground transport are responsible for about 48% of greenhouse gas emissions in Hawaiʻi, making transportation the largest source of climate pollution in the state.
In Navahine F. v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, the youth plaintiffs argued that the state Department of Transportation's policies had accelerated, rather than curbed, the use of fossil fuels. According to the complaint, the department had failed to reduce the number of miles driven by fossil fuel-powered cars, make robust investments in public EV charging infrastructure, or build out pedestrian walkways and bike paths.
The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation is “a flat tire in our transition to a decarbonized future,” said Earthjustice attorney Leināʻala Ley in a statement issued when the case was first filed in 2022.
Earthjustice represented the young Hawaiʻi plaintiffs alongside Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based law firm which has filed dozens of cases nationwide on behalf of young people calling for more action on climate change.
Last August, youth plaintiffs saw their first major victory when a Montana judge ruled that the state must consider climate impacts when issuing permits for fossil fuel projects. Like the Navahine case, Held v. Montana also focused on language in the state’s constitution guaranteeing the right to a “clean and healthful environment.”
“The presence of that constitutional right seems to be making all the difference in these cases,” Gerrard said, noting that Montana and Hawaiʻi are two of only a handful of states that have such environmental rights enshrined in their constitutions.
Prior to settling, the state of Hawaiʻi tried to have the Navahine case thrown out, arguing that Hawaiʻi’s high rate of emissions is not a result of the state’s transportation infrastructure, but of residents’ personal choices to drive gas-powered cars.
In a motion to dismiss the case, filed in August 2022, state attorneys urged the court to imagine a situation in which, "overnight, everyone in Hawai‘i abandoned fossil-fuel-running vehicles."
"The GHG [greenhouse gas emissions] that Plaintiffs complain about would drop dramatically, yet the physical facilities that HDOT maintains would exist and operate exactly the same," the motion stated.
Richard Wallsgrove, co-director of the environmental law program at the University of Hawaiʻi Richardson School of Law, called that argument “hogwash,” adding that Hawaiʻi residents had been limited in their ability to move away from gas-powered cars by the state’s failure to create suitable alternatives, like user-friendly bike routes or robust public transit.
“It has been disappointing for those of us watching this case that the state would even make that argument,” Wallsgrove said.
The Hawai‘i Circuit Court denied the state’s motion to dismiss last year and greenlit the Navahine case for trial.
That trial was scheduled to start next Monday, June 24. Instead, seven of the young plaintiffs appeared alongside Hawaiʻi Governor Josh Green at a press conference on Thursday to announce that the parties had settled.
“We are here today with an actionable and enforceable agreement that puts Hawaiʻi’s transportation system on the fast track to advance key climate solutions,” said Pahonu C., one of the plaintiffs.
Under the terms of the settlement, the state Department of Transportation agreed to develop a plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the next year. That plan will lay out the department’s path over the next 20 years, with interim goals and updates every five years.
The department will also track and disclose emissions from each of its projects and establish a volunteer youth council to advise on climate initiatives.
“The plaintiffs were able to achieve basically everything that they would have gotten had they gone to trial and gone to court,” Gerrard said.
Hawaiʻi’s courts will maintain jurisdiction over the Navahine case until either 2045 or the state meets its emission target. The youth plaintiffs will be able to take the state back to court if the terms of the settlement are not being met.
Ed Sniffen, who was appointed by Green to head Hawaiʻi’s Department of Transportation in 2023, said he was confident that Hawaiʻi could achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. He added that there had been “significant movement already” at the department to address climate change since the Navahine complaint was filed in 2022.
“We're all ready to move forward to ensure that we fulfill this goal together,” Sniffen said.
