Understanding Our Chapter’s New Energy Justice Policy

By Lauren Ballesteros-Watanabe | Reading Time: 4 minutes, 30 seconds

We are in the midst of a pivotal moment, for the Sierra Club and the collective well-being of our communities. The continued suffering from a global pandemic, the sobering release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest climate report signaling a “code red,” and the ongoing fight against systemic violence plaguing indigenous peoples and communities of color. 

Collectively, the Sierra Club recognizes that the climate crisis and systemic racism fuel inequity. As the Club re-focuses on core values, including equity and justice, it is crucial that members and supporters recognize how these values build power in our climate justice movement. By recognizing that our destinies are tied, we must continue to identify fundamental intersections between ecology, race, gender, class, citizenship status, and any number of other distinguishing characteristics.  It is crucial that we understand how each policy change either advances our collective wellbeing or continues to oppress it. This is what the just transition framework is all about. The transition to renewable energy is an opportunity to overhaul the extractive and exploitative fossil fuel economy. A clean energy future can provide new jobs, lower electricity costs, encourage community self-determination, and increase disaster resilience, if we design our systems with those complementary goals in mind. 

The Sierra Club has been putting action behind these values through policy advocacy and grassroots organizing. For example, the THRIVE Agenda is a national campaign that “lays out a vision to reshape our society to provide a good life for each of us and for our children and grandchildren.” By answering the call for intersectional advocacy, we can then pivot locally to the unique history and political context of Hawaiʻi. 

On May 22, 2021, the Hawaiʻi Chapter Executive Committee (ExCom) moved to update our existing energy policy, which was approved in 1983. To ensure this policy was created with Sierra Club’s core values in mind, a subcommittee was created to research and draft recommendations, and to work with ExCom members to create a policy that includes justice, equity, and the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing. This policy serves as the analytical lens by which the Chapter takes positions and guides grassroots organizing efforts around all issues, especially energy justice.

The updated policy effort was led by Chapter Chair Jade Moss, with the help of ExCom members, Chapter staff, and allies in the energy sector. This policy is a comprehensive framework that outlines the injustices of our current system, and lays out a vision for a decentralized power system that is aligned with the values of our members and the broader community. It is not meant to serve as a technical guide to energy systems.  

Here is a brief summary of the policy’s core elements: 

• Energy as a human right

  • Constitutionally protected: energy sources are a public trust resource to be guarded from for-profit exploitation;

• A Just Transition

  • Providing living wage, clean energy jobs and a shift to localized economies;

• Ending environmental racism and injustice

  • Industrial-scale projects should not cost workers or nearby communities their health and well-being;

• Community consent in energy development

  • Ongoing collaboration with directly affected community members, that respects their expectations and promotes aloha ʻāina values;

• Culturally conscious energy systems

  • A project design that respects the cultural significance and socio-ecological integrity of an area;

• Distributed and community-scale energy

  • A decentralized electricity grid that utilizes distributed energy resources and community-scale projects that produce electricity in the communities it is most needed, reducing reliance on large industrial scale projects in rural communities;

• Adequate Renewable Portfolio Standards

  • Creating and enforcing strict standards that don't undermine our decarbonization efforts, health, and well being;

• Economic fairness

  • Advocate for regulatory decisions that drive rates down.

The full updated policy document is available now!

If you haven’t noticed by now, this policy is about much more than energy.

It is an opportunity for the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi to build deeper and more meaningful relationships with the community. It is about building a movement for an energy democracy, shifting away from  corporate control over an essential service. It is about slowing down, listening, and having hard conversations amongst advocates and decision-makers about the importance of justice and equity in the transition to clean energy systems.

This moment in history requires us to take a step back and refocus as we face multiple interconnected crises: the impacts of systemic racism, an economic downturn, a worldwide pandemic and a climate crisis that has made extreme weather events the norm. While the state and utility push to ramp up several large industrial scale projects, it is time for every climate advocate to also be an energy justice advocate. We can and must stave off the worst of climate change, while also ensuring no family has to make the impossible choice between keeping their homes safe and secure or feeding their children. By focusing our attention on meeting the needs of the most vulnerable in our community, we will build a stronger community overall and better protect the basic needs of everyone in the islands.   

Make sure to catch the Energy Justice Policy launch on Sept. 7th from 5-6pm via Facebook Live!

Chapter Chair Jade Moss will host with guest speakers: Chapter Organizer Lauren Ballesteros-Watanabe and Chapter Vice-Chair Kauʻi Pratt-Aquino, who will share the content of the policy and why it is critical to our future energy advocacy!