Support Solar Roof Bill

Aloha Friend of the environment:We really need your help. We have good news and bad news. The good news is the solar roofs bill (SB 644) passed out of conference committee late last Friday night. The final vote is this Thursday (May 1), the last day of session. The bad news? The House, in the most brazen political power play, forced the Senate to accept the farmland urbanization ploy (SB 2646) in return for the solar roofs bill. Now House leadership plans to hold the solar bill hostage on the final day of the session unless they get their pro-development bill passed.
Maddening, isn't it? Let's not let them get away with it. Your voice counts, so please take a second and make some calls or send an email. The list of legisators that need to hear from you is below. The simple message is "Please vote YES on solar roofs (SB 644) and NO on farmland urbanization (SB 2646)."
If you haven't made a call or sent an email yet this session, now is your best opportunity to influence the outcome. THE NEXT 48 HOURS ARE CRITICAL. PLEASE CALL/EMAIL TODAY.
CALL: Your legislator or any of those listed below. Call 'em all, if you can. Calls now are very important.
EMAIL: Click here for an email to key legislators (if that link doesn't work, try this one). Or email them individually from the list below.
ATTEND: Thursday's vote. The floor sessions at the Capitol should start around 10am.
Briefly, the solar roofs bill (SB 644) would require that all new homes starting in 2010 have solar hot water heaters installed, with a few exceptions. The bill also requires the development of standards to govern the quality and performance of systems installed. More details here.
The farmland urbanization bill (SB 2646) allows large landowners to urbanize a portion of their land in exchange for designating a percentage as “important agricultural land.” The bill also provides a corporate bailout to former plantations and large landowners and essentially provides state support for further water diversions. For example, should SB 2646 pass, Alexander & Baldwin could receive state tax dollars to finance their legal efforts to take water from East Maui taro farmers.
The key senators who can stop the farmland urbanization bill are:
NAME
PHONE
EMAIL
BAKER, Rosalyn (D)
586-6070
mailto:senbaker@capitol.hawaii.gov
CHUN OAKLAND, Suzanne (D)
586-6130
mailto:senchunoakland@capitol.hawaii.gov
ENGLISH, J. Kalani (D)
587-7225
senenglish@capitol.hawaii.gov
ESPERO, Will (D)
586-6360
senespero@capitol.hawaii.gov
FUKUNAGA, Carol (D)
586-6890
senfukunaga@capitol.hawaii.gov
GABBARD, Mike (D)
586-6830
sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov
HANABUSA, Colleen (D)
586-7793
senhanabusa@capitol.hawaii.gov
IGE, David Y. (D)
586-6230
sendige@capitol.hawaii.gov
INOUYE, Lorraine R. (D)
586-7335
seninouye@capitol.hawaii.gov
KIM, Donna Mercado (D)
587-7200
mailto:senkim@capitol.hawaii.gov
KOKUBUN, Russell S. (D)
586-6760
senkokubun@capitol.hawaii.gov
MENOR, Ron (D)
586-6740
senmenor@capitol.hawaii.gov
NISHIHARA, Clarence (D)
586-6970
sennishihara@capitol.hawaii.gov
SAKAMOTO, Norman (D)
586-8585
sensakamoto@capitol.hawaii.gov
TANIGUCHI, Brian T. (D)
586-6460
sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov
TOKUDA, Jill N. (D)
587-7215
sentokuda@capitol.hawaii.gov
TSUTSUI, Shan S. (D)
586-7344
sentsutsui@capitol.hawaii.gov
So who crafted this deal to force the pro-development bill? If you want to know, it's House leadership:Speaker Calvin Say, 586-6100Rep. Kirk Caldwell, 586-8475Rep. Pono Chong, 586-9490Rep. Blake Oshiro, 586-6340
Tell them this is unacceptable. Bills should be supported or rejected on their merits. We don't have the patience for ridiculous political gameplaying like this. Here are the other House members who need to hear from us:
NAME
PHONE
EMAIL
Awana, Karen Leinani (D)
586-8465
repawana@capitol.hawaii.gov
Bertram, Joe, III (D)
586-8525
repbertram@capitol.hawaii.gov
Brower, Tom (D)
586-8520
repbrower@capitol.hawaii.gov
Cabanilla, Rida T. R. (D)
586-6080
repcabanilla@capitol.hawaii.gov
Chang, Jerry L. (D)
586-6120
repchang@capitol.hawaii.gov
Ching, Corinne W.L. (R)
586-9415
repching@capitol.hawaii.gov
Evans, Cindy (D)
586-8510
repevans@capitol.hawaii.gov
Finnegan, Lynn (R)
586-9470
repfinnegan@capitol.hawaii.gov
Green, Josh, M.D. (D)
586-9605
repgreen@capitol.hawaii.gov
Hanohano, faye P. (D)
586-6530
rephanohano@capitol.hawaii.gov
Har, Sharon (D)
586-8500
rephar@capitol.hawaii.gov
Herkes, Robert N. (D)
586-8400
repherkes@capitol.hawaii.gov
Ito, Ken (D)
586-8470
repito@capitol.hawaii.gov
Karamatsu, Jon Riki (D)
586-8490
repkaramatsu@capitol.hawaii.gov
Lee, Marilyn B. (D)
586-9460
replee@capitol.hawaii.gov
Magaoay, Michael Y. (D)
586-6380
repmagaoay@capitol.hawaii.gov
Manahan, Joey (D)
586-6010
repmanahan@capitol.hawaii.gov
Marumoto, Barbara C. (R)
586-6310
repmarumoto@capitol.hawaii.gov
McKelvey, Angus (D)
586-6160
repmckelvey@capitol.hawaii.gov
Mizuno, John (D)
586-6050
repmizuno@capitol.hawaii.gov
Nakasone, Bob (D)
586-6210
repnakasone@capitol.hawaii.gov
Nishimoto, Scott Y. (D)
586-8515
repnishimoto@capitol.hawaii.gov
Oshiro, Marcus R. (D)
586-6200
repmoshiro@capitol.hawaii.gov
Pine, Kimberly (R)
586-9730
reppine@capitol.hawaii.gov
RHOADS, Karl (D)
586-6180
reprhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov
SAGUM, Roland D., III (D)
586-6280
repsagum@capitol.hawaii.gov
Shimabukuro, Maile S. L. (D)
586-8460
repshimabukuro@capitol.hawaii.gov
Sonson, Alex M. (D)
586-6520
repsonson@capitol.hawaii.gov
Takai, K. Mark (D)
586-8455
reptakai@capitol.hawaii.gov
Takamine, Dwight Y. (D)
586-6680
reptakamine@capitol.hawaii.gov
Takumi, Roy M. (D)
586-6170
reptakumi@capitol.hawaii.gov
Tokioka, James Kunane (D)
586-6270
reptokioka@capitol.hawaii.gov
Tsuji, Clift (D)
586-8480
reptsuji@capitol.hawaii.gov
Wakai, Glenn (D)
586-6220
repwakai@capitol.hawaii.gov
Ward, Gene, Ph.D. (R)
586-6420
repward@capitol.hawaii.gov
Waters, Tommy (D)
586-9450
repwaters@capitol.hawaii.gov
Yamane, Ryan I. (D)
586-6150
repyamane@capitol.hawaii.gov
Yamashita, Kyle T. (D)
586-6330
repyamashita@capitol.hawaii.gov

Information above is provided by the Sierra Club