Our Hawaii Advocacy Team of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) would like to congratulate U.S. Rep. Ed Case for receiving the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s 2023 Leadership Award. He has been at the forefront in helping to preserve and prevent the further pollution of our oceans — especially the Pacific Ocean.

Among other accomplishments, he was a leading force in helping to establish the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

Our advocacy team believes that we are facing an unprecedented world crisis in climate change that poses a real existential threat to not only our oceans, but to humankind itself. We would like to see Case combine forces with Hawaii’s other members of Congress — U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and Rep. Jill Tokuda — in doubling or even tripling our efforts in combating climate change in every way possible. Perhaps a Congressional Caucus on the Environment could mirror the National Conference of State Legislatures, which has been working on environmental issues since the mid-1970s.

The principles found in the Green New Deal and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act are a good start, but that should be only the beginning. The Department of Defense has actually taken the position that climate change, on many levels and in many ways, is our greatest threat to U.S. security.

Here in Hawaii we have our rising ocean levels and “king tides” to deal with, which are already causing environmental problems. Some islands in the Pacific, including many in Micronesia, are becoming more and more uninhabitable. Record worldwide highs in temperature are being set almost on a daily basis. Canada is literally burning up. Many countries in Africa are suffering extreme droughts and flooding, which are causing massive crop failures and leading to many Africans seeking refuge and asylum.

Hawaii’s congressional legislators have a unique opportunity to be a leading force in helping to turn this climate crisis around in a process that utilizes fundamental indigen Hawaiian beliefs, values and practices regarding the stewardship of the land. Our state motto — “Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono” (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness) — applies not only to Hawaii, but now our entire world.

Working together, we can make it a righteous and sustainable environment where we are learning that taking care of the land is in fact taking care of ourselves. And, conversely, if we don’t take care of the land in a righteous manner, we might well perish.

Again, congratulations to Case. However, we are sure he realizes that the real work is just beginning — for everyone — and that this award is actually an additional incentive and encouragement to do even more in the future. And that future is now.

Michele Shields and Roman Leverenz are members of the Hawaii advocacy team of the Friends Committee on National Legislation.