I’m a few days late on this, but it seems significant.

Hawaii’s Republican (oops, did I italicize that?) Governor Linda Lingle has proposed a new bill called "Energy for Tomorrow." You can read the original press release (here as PDF; here converted to HTML) or a shorter fact sheet (PDF; HTML). The five major components:

  • "Savings through Efficiency"
  • "Independence through Renewable Energy"
  • "Fuels through Farming"
  • "Security through Technology"
  • "Empowering Hawaii’s Consumers"

It draws heavily on the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Winning the Oil Endgame, and aims to make the state most dependent on fossil-fuel imports energy independent. Bold.

From a story in Renewable Energy Access:

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According to [RMI Senior Director of Research & Consulting] Datta, the increase in oil prices since 2002 has cost Hawaii more than $1 billion, and increased energy expenses more then $1500 per household. Hawaii has no fossil fuel resources, but it does have a full portfolio of renewable energy resources.

…

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Implementation of all the conservation, renewable energy, and alternative transportation fuels components of this package, Datta said, is expected by the year 2020 to displace 110.5 million barrels of imported crude oil-saving Hawaii’s consumers $6.32 billion; and avoiding 48.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

If this makes it through the legislature and is actually enacted, it could be a wicked pilot project for the nation at large.

(via Gil Friend)