Gov. Josh Green appointed a CAT (Climate Advisory Team) that is responsible for developing programs and projects to adapt to climate change. Its members are community- oriented, trying to do their best to ensure that Hawaii is adequately protected against sea level rise, wildfires and other future devastation caused or driven by climate change. However, CAT is limited because it is narrowly focused on adaptation, and mitigation is outside its scope.

In 2018 the Hawaii Legislature set a statewide goal of net negative greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, when Hawaii would sequester more greenhouse gases than it emits. The Legislature recognized that we in Hawaii must do our part so that humanity as a whole drastically reduces greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst of climate change. But the 2045 mitigation goal is not in CAT’s kuleana.

CAT may be fortunate because it is not competing for funding with any other similar high-level influential state agency. There is no DOG (Decarbonization: Our Goal) — no similar committee tasked with developing programs and projects to reduce emissions to achieve the 2045 goal. But a DOG is needed because, as things are going, Hawaii is going to miss the 2045 goal by a wide margin.

What makes things even worse is that climate change is low on the Legislature’s priorities. Nevertheless, CAT will likely get a lot of the Legislature’s attention, and CAT recommends nearly $2 billion for adaptation. If it gets its way, little is likely to be left for mitigation programs, such as subsidies for people to purchase electric vehicles and energy-saving appliances.

Fortunately, there is a mitigation program that doesn’t require any government funding to operate. It funds itself. Not only that, but it puts money into the pockets of Hawaii’s families. Most of Hawaii’s families would enjoy a net financial benefit, and low-income families would benefit the most. In a time when Aloha United Ways says that one-third of Hawaii’s families are struggling financially, this program would support them.

The program is carbon cashback. It puts a price on the pollution emitted by fossil fuels, which is known as carbon pricing. It also distributes the resulting revenue to people in equal shares. The economic theory behind carbon cashback has been validated by a number of recent studies confirming that carbon pricing reduces consumption and reduces emissions.

Furthermore, carbon pricing is the only program of the many examined by a particular study that makes other emissions-reduction programs more effective.

Carbon cashback is not only effective, but it is efficient, as it minimizes operating costs by using existing government mechanisms. The existing Environmental Response, Energy, and Food Security Tax (aka barrel tax) is used to price fossil fuel pollution by raising the existing low rate. Hawaii’s income tax system is used to distribute the revenues (minus a small amount for operating costs) through refundable tax credits.

A University of Hawaii study shows that most of Hawaii’s families would receive a net financial benefit (their cashback would be greater than the higher prices that they would pay resulting from carbon pricing). Low-income families would have the greatest net financial benefit.

Although carbon cashback makes sense theoretically and in practice, there has been some resistance to it because, for Hawaii, it is new and different. But climate change is no longer a distant idea somewhere on the horizon. It is here, and we are experiencing its devastating effects now. Furthermore, climate catastrophes are predicted to get even worse. It’s time to try something new and different.

John Kawamoto is a former legislative analyst and an advocate for the environment.