Category: Uncategorized

  • Your Invited !!

    Details about our aforementioned General Membership Meeting this Sunday, May 25, 2014.

    What: The Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai’i invites you join us… perhaps you would like to run for a steering committee position, nominate potential candidates and help us vote for nominees.

    Elections of Steering Committee Members consists of 4 officers and 3 at-large positions.

    When: Sunday, May 25, 2014 at 10:00 am Sharp to 10:30

    Where: Stop at the Environmental Caucus table in the lobby of the Sheraton Waikiki to sign in no later than 9:30 am and get directions to the suite where the elections will be held promptly at 10am. 

    Send any questions to: ecodemhi@gmail.com

     

  • Keep the Date

    Keep the Date

    Positions presented may not necessarily match the official platform of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.
    The Environmental Caucus does fully support Right to Know legislation and we strive to learn and inform the public about the issues surrounding pesticides and GMO.

  • Action Request – taken from www.fooddemocracynow.org

    Action Request - taken from www.fooddemocracynow.org

    Add your voice to the growing opposition to all things Roundup!! The Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii has taken up the position that consumers have the RIGHT TO KNOW the truth about GMO, Roundup and Monsanto seed engineering programs. Please join us in this action which demands that the EPA take a cautionary approach to Glyphosate levels at the Federal Level.

  • Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Saturday, June 1, at the Doris Duke Theatre

    For information only.  Blog posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the Environmental Caucus or the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.

    The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is coming to Hawaiʻi on Saturday, June 1st, at the Doris Duke Theatre in the Honolulu Museum of Art.  

    From http://honolulumuseum.org/events/films/13717-wild_scenic_film_festival:

    “About the Festival:

    The Wild & Scenic Film Festival, one of the largest environmental film festivals in North America, is coming to the Doris Duke Theatre.

    The festival works with environmentally conscious groups across the country to host tour venues as a way to outreach into their communities and bring together a diverse audience. 

    Knowledge in Motion, a Hawaiʻi-based, grassroots, community awareness and outreach organization, brings the festival here with the aim of helping communities come together and to promote the concepts of mālama and aloha ʻāina. Its goal is to use film to inspire activism.

    This year’s community organization honoree for the festival is Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi (CCH). Formed in 1950, CCH has worked for decades on protecting imperiled wildlife and land. CCH is a nonprofit, environmental organization based in Honolulu and dedicated to protecting native Hawaiian plants, animals, and ecosystems for future generations. For more information, visit www.conservehi.org.

    Here are a few of the films included in the program:

    Seeds of Freedom
    Directed by Jess Phillimore, 2012

    Narrated by Jeremy Irons, Seeds of Freedom charts the story of the seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity rich farming systems across the world.

    View the trailer.

    The Last Ice Merchant
    Directed by Sandy Patch, Ecuador, 2012, 14 mins

    Featuring the story of Baltazar Ushca, a man who for 53 years has harvested glacial ice from the tallest mountain in Ecuador.

    View the trailer.

    The Water Tower
    Directed by Peter McBride, Kenya, 2013

    This documentary short explores a monumental granite swell in Central Kenya that stretches 17,058 feet into the sky.

    View the trailer.”

    To purchase tickets and for more information, please click here.

     

  • Hawaii native forest watersheds threatened

    While climate change will increasingly stress our native forest watersheds in most immediate threat is the impact of feral plants and animals.  Without strong management intervention our native forests will be destroyed by feral animals and invasive plants.

    Quarantine and quick response to incipient introductions is our first line of defense.

    To learn more click here.

  • Environmental Caucus General Meeting Date Update

    Due to renovations, Democratic Party Headquarters is not available on the original date and we have not found another suitable location on such short notice. That being the case, we have opted to postpone the next General Meeting until Wednesday, April 24, 2013.

    If renovations are completed on time, the meeting will be at our usual location, Democratic Party Headquarters–Ward Warehouse.

    If we need to relocate, we will send an update.

    So here is the new and improved General Meeting announcement. Thank you for your patience.

    ************************************

    You are invited to
    A General Membership Meeting
    of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii
    Date April 24, 2013

    Meeting Agenda:

    Door opens: 6:00
    Sign in and meet with your Caucus Subcommittee chairs,
    regarding issues that you and they feel are important.

    6:30 Call to order–followed by an introduction of our Candidates for Molokai Rep.
    Candidates Water Ritte and Kahono Helm will each speak for five minutes
    followed by a ten minutes session of questions and answers.
    We expect the candidates will be speaking from Moloka’i via Internet

    6:50 or so
    Members write out and turn in their votes (Charley Ice to count and oversee).
    While votes are counted, Bill Sager, Chair of our Natural Resources Subcommittee will report on important bills still in play and need of your testimony. (Ten minutes?)

    7:00 Charley Ice to announce the vote outcome.

    Following vote announcement
    7:00 – 8:00 (tentatively)
    Special Guest Speakers to discuss GMO bills and the Right to Know:
    Upcoming GMO Labeling Laws in our State and how you can add your voice.
    (speaker details to follow)

    8:00
    Secretary Report (five minutes)
    Treasury Report (five minutes)
    Chair Report (five minutes)

    Special announcements and Pau Hana

  • Reminder: Environmental Caucus General meeting Coming March 27…

    You are invited to
    A General Membership Meeting
    of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii

    Meeting Agenda:

    Door opens: 6:00
    Sign in and meet with your Caucus Subcommittee chairs,
    regarding issues that you and they feel are important.

    6:30 Call to order–followed by an introduction of our Candidates for Molokai Representative.
    Candidates Water Ritte and Kahono Helm will each speak for five minutes
    followed by a ten minutes session of questions and answers.
    We expect the candidates will be speaking from Moloka’i via Internet

    6:50 or so
    Members write out and turn in their votes (Charley Ice to count and oversee).
    While votes are counted, Bill Sager, Chair of our Natural Resources Subcommittee will report on important bills still in play and need of your testimony. (Ten minutes?)

    7:00 Charley Ice to announce the vote outcome.

    Following vote announcement
    7:00 – 8:00 (tentatively)
    Special Guest Speakers to discuss GMO bills and the Right to Know:
    Upcoming GMO Labeling Laws in our State and how you can add your voice.
    (speaker details to follow)

    8:00
    Secretary Report (five minutes)
    Treasury Report (five minutes)
    Chair Report (five minutes)

    Individual announcements and Pau Hana

  • Volunteers and Recyclers Needed for Recycling Event

    The Democratic Party is having a Community Clean up day.  Sat March 16, 8:30 – 12:30.

    We are accepting recyclable items.  Click here for more details, flier and map.

    We are desperately looking for volunteers to helo direct traffic etc..  If you would like to volunteer please contact Larry Meacham meacham.hawaii@gmail.com or call 291-6151.

  • Bill Tracking as of 24 February 2013

    Bill Tracking as of 24 February 2013.  Bills needing action are in bold. Click here to see tracking document.

  • Call to ACTION – HB1330 DOCARE funding

    Our near shore fishery is in trouble. Today, these same resources are estimated to contribute $800 million in annual revenue to the state, with an added recreational, amenity, fishery, biodiversity, and educational value of $364 million per year.

    The Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) is the only agency focused on enforcing laws that protect our natural and cultural resources. Everyone know DOCARE is woefully underfunded. 

    Given this broad scope of responsibility, and the large amount and variety of equipment, training, and manpower needed to effectively carry out DOCARE’s mission, it is clear that DOCARE has been critically underfunded for many years.[4] A review of budget worksheets from the last ten years indicates past legislative appropriations for DOCARE have ranged from $6 to $8 million dollars annually; by contrast, the Honolulu Police Department – tasked with enforcing state and county laws in Honolulu county only, and primarily in developed or municipal areas – reported a budget of $224 million in 2010 alone.[5] Clearly, much greater investment is necessary to ensure that DOCARE has the resources to ensure that the laws protecting our natural and cultural resources have actual teeth, and to relieve mounting community concerns regarding the lack of support for DOCARE’s important mission.

    By restoring lost funding to DOCARE, this bill therefore provides a small but critical step in the right direction for investing in the conservation and protection of the resources that the Native Hawaiian community and the larger public rely upon.

    To submit testimony on HB1330 Click Here