"So we have volunteers going out putting tags, kind of like little birthday gift tags on their bikes that just say thank you. Thanks you for riding this week and then asking them to text in, asking them to join the movement, asking them to support bicycle riding," says Jeff Mikulina of the Blue Planet Foundation.
There is a movement on the part of some legislators to cut back on the tax credits available for residents installing solar water heating or photovoltaic panels on their homes to cut back on energy use.
"Hawaii is perfect for solar. In fact, we’re number two in the nation for solar per person. Part of that is because of our healthy tax credit. We have about 35 percent tax credit, 30 percent federal credit. Some lawmakers who want to scale that back. We think now is not the time to scale that back," Mikulina says.
We wondered why the Blue Planet Foundation is so concerned about this legislation.
"We have some 2,000 jobs in the solar industry. It’s some 15 to 20 percent of our construction jobs are related to solar. So the industry is growing, it’s strong, it’s healthy and we want to keep that going," explains Mikulina.
But don’t those tax credits cost the state money?
"We’re paying out $30 million, $40 million. But the thing is, this money comes back to the state. It comes back to the state in the form of not buying oil. I mean, that’s a huge leakage. It comes back to the state in the form of general excise tax, income tax and other ancillary benefits," Mikulina says.
Are there other environmental or conservation issues that Blue Planet is following?
"One, to create a regulatory structure for a cable between the islands so we could use the disproportionate amount of clean energy on the various islands and have a healthier grid," Mikulina says.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
