Hawaiʻi’s new green fee aimed at offsetting tourism’s impact on the environment has caught the eye of the Trump administration, which has grown increasingly hostile to efforts to fight climate change.
A U.S. Department of Justice motion to intervene in Cruise Lines International’s lawsuit against the state and county landed earlier this month, just one day before federal Judge Jill Otake held the first court hearing on the case.
The tax was heralded as historic when it passed the Legislature last April. As of January 1, it will apply to hotel guests and other short-term visitors and, in a concession intended to gain the support of the hotel industry, it was expanded during the session to include cruise ships as well.
In the motion, Assistant Attorney General Stanley Woodward calls the green fee, the first of its kind in the nation, a “scheme to extort American citizens and businesses solely to benefit Hawaiʻi.”
A court decision there could shape just how sweep... Read more
