Hawaii
A Supreme Court case in Hawaii could raise gas costs for us all
Aloha spirit be damned, the Hawaii Supreme Court has deemed the oil industry unwelcome in the state.
In a ruling late last year, the court affirmed that the city of Honolulu could file a lawsuit alleging that Sunoco, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, and an assortment of other companies have caused it injury via their products’ greenhouse gas emissions.
Now it may be up to the US Supreme Court to set the matter straight: Is climate change an area of special federal interest or can states give Big Oil the boot? If the latter, the outcome from 50 new sets of legal hoops is inevitably higher energy prices for all Americans.
Honolulu’s core claim is that the oil companies’ “efforts between 1965 and the present to deceive about the consequences of the normal use of their fossil fuel products” constitute tortious conduct.”
The chain of reasoning is that Sunoco et al have marketed and sold products that, when combusted, emit carbon dioxide and other gasses, exacerbating the greenhouse effect, warming the planet, melting glaciers, and causing sea levels to rise.
That rising water, the argument goes, has caused “historical, projected, and committed disruptions to the environment — and consequent injuries to the City.”
Honolulu’s claim underscores how difficult climate damage attribution really is. Yes, emissions add incrementally to sea level rise. But, no, we cannot attribute with confidence a portion of the cost of managing rising water to particular companies.
According to the US government’s Interagency Sea Level Task Force, the Hawaiian Islands are expected to experience 6-8 inches of sea level rise by 2050. That will surely require some coastal adaptation measures, as Honolulu says.
But what the City is slower to acknowledge is that factors other than sea level rise are playing a part in its troubles too — including its own land use and the unlucky fact that Hawaii’s volcanic geology is resulting in the islands sagging lower year by year.
Mercifully, the Supreme Court wouldn’t be weighing in on the scientific technicalities of Honolulu’s tort claim, but rather on whether Hawaii — or any other state — has climate change authority at all.
In June 2024, SCOTUS asked the Biden administration’s Solicitor General for the federal government’s opinion on the matter of federal preemption raised by the oil companies in their appeal of the Hawaii Supreme Court decision.
The appeal argues that federal law — namely the Clean Air Act — supersedes state law claims. As we near the end of the Biden presidency, a filing from the Solicitor General in favor or opposed to the Supreme Court taking up this appeal is imminent.
If SCOTUS does so, how might the justices consider the constitutional questions at hand? Related air and water pollution cases suggest the oil companies have precedent on their side.
In 1987, the Rehnquist court decided in International Paper Company v. Ouellette that the Clean Water Act preempts a common-law nuisance suit filed in a Vermont court under Vermont law, when the source of the alleged injury was located in New York.
In 2011, the Roberts court unanimously reached a similar decision in a Clean Air Act case, American Electric Power Company v. Connecticut.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s opinion for the court then, that “it is primarily the office of Congress, not the federal courts, to prescribe national policy in areas of special federal interest,” applies today just the same.
Most recently, in 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a federal district court decision in City of New York v. Chevron that a municipality cannot “utilize state tort law to hold multinational oil companies liable for the damages caused by global greenhouse gas emissions.”
As George Mason University legal scholar Donald Kochan argues, the 2023 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that the City of Honolulu’s case could proceed creates just the kind of national legal dissonance that requires the US Supreme Court to step in.
Given the dispersed nature of the corporate actions in question, this is a federal matter, not a state matter. Hawaiians, like citizens of the other 49 states, are represented in House and Senate and can channel their political energy through federal legislation.
If this case goes forward in Hawaii, it will jeopardize the national commercial market and legal framework that makes America, despite it all, the best big country in the world for productivity, wealth creation, and widely-shared prosperity.
Jordan McGillis is the economics editor of City Journal.
Hawaii
Kanakaʻole, Zane ʻohana transform Hawaiian cultural practices into captivating visual arts | Maui Now
This powerful new exhibition will feature the work of Nālani Kanakaʻole, Sig Zane, and Kūhaʻoʻīmaikalani Zane—a Hilo-based family of artists whose creative practices are deeply rooted in hula ʻaihaʻa.
Hula ʻaihaʻa is the low-postured, vigorous, bombastic style of hula that Kanakaʻole was known for as kumu hula of Hālau o Kekuhi. The hula springs from the eruptive volcano personas of Pele and her sister Hiʻiaka, characteristic of Hawaiʻi Island’s creative forces.
The Bishop Museum, the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History, on Oʻahu is presenting “Ea Mai ʻEiwa: Patterns of Practice” in the J. M. Long Gallery beginning on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
The exhibition title references “Kūhaʻimoana,” a chant describing the migration of shark gods from Kahiki (ancestral homeland) to Hawaiʻi. “Ea Mai ʻEiwa” reflects the strength, resilience, and environmental knowledge embodied in these ancestral stories.
Bringing together new and existing works alongside botanical specimens and cultural treasures from Bishop Museum’s collections, the exhibition weaves themes of migration, community resilience, and environmental stewardship—offering insight and inspiration for today.
“This exhibition demonstrates that the gap between historic collections and contemporary art is actually a lot smaller than people think,” said Sarah Kuaiwa, Ph.D., Bishop Museum curator for Hawaiʻi and Pacific Cultural Resources. “Audiences will see how the artists use the same materials as pieces in Bishop Museum collections but in different forms. The resonance between the artist’s work with mea kupuna (ancestors) is what makes ‘Ea Mai ʻEiwa’ a uniquely Bishop Museum exhibition.”
Kuaiwa curated the group exhibitions along with co-curator, kumu hula Kauʻi Kanakaʻole, and Bishop Museum exhibit designer, DeAnne Kennedy.
The artists’ work across visual and performing arts is continually charged and sustained by hula. From Nālani Kanakaʻole’s art direction and choreography to Sig Zane’s photography and textile design, and Kūhaʻoʻīmaikalani Zane’s graphic design and immersive installations, each artist channels ʻike (knowledge, wisdom) carried through generations.
“Through repetition, deep study, and consistent practice, mastery is achieved. As practitioners of hula, the artists have continued to deepen their understanding of the natural and spiritual world, which has in turn inspired their art practices,” Kuaiwa said. “They aim to produce art in various visual media not only to educate, but to also be aesthetically celebrated and enjoyed.”
“Patterns of Practice” was suggested by Sig Zane as a way of representing how the artists hone their skills.
“‘Kūhaʻimoana,’ for me, has many layers to it,” Kūhaʻoʻīmaikalani Zane said. “On a first take, it’s a migratory chant that compares migrations to waves of ocean-navigating sharks. That metaphor sets out the tone of connectivity between our natural environment and the beings that inhabit it.”
“‘Kūhaʻimoana’ is an example illustrating metaphorical depth within Hawaiian poetry,” said Sig Zane. “The importance of navigation surfaces in day-to-day cultural practices. This archaic chant reveals nuanced content, giving us a peek into hierarchy, dualities, and familial belief systems.”
Kanakaʻole passed away in January this year, so Kauʻi Kanakaʻole hopes that “Ea Mai ʻEiwa: Patterns of Practice” reflects Kanakaʻole’s philosophy of practice and piques curiosity within people about others’ stories, history, and culture.
“She intentionally taught hula with depth of language, craft, and art form to encompass a full-on lifestyle commitment,” Kanakaʻole said. “This was her everyday; the way she learned, grew, and inspired.” “I would love for guests to leave (the exhibition) with a mixture of awe, appreciation, and curiosity.”
Highlights of the “Ea Mai ʻEiwa: Patterns of Practice” exhibition include:
- Nālani Kanakaʻole’s kite installation, “Kūhaʻimoana,” her last large-scale installation before her passing
- Botanical specimens from various locations across Hawaiʻi Island, chosen to represent their hula ʻahu (altar) and sources of inspiration the artists frequently draw from
- Uniquely colored kūpeʻe (sea snails) shells made into adornments, as well as adornments made to look like kūpeʻe shells
- Kapa (barkcloth) made from the 19th century with dynamic designs
- ʻAwa (kava, Piper methysticum) cups and kānoa (kava bowl) associated with the aliʻi
- New and archival sketches and rubylith artworks by Sig Zane from 1990 to present
- A collection of family photos from the Kanakaʻole ʻOhana
- Memorabilia and ephemera from the theatrical performance, “Holo Mai Pele” (1995-2000)
“Ea Mai ʻEiwa: Patterns of Practice” will be presented in both ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and English, and will be on view until Sept. 20, 2026.
For more information, visit bishopmuseum.org.
The demolition of Aloha Stadium on Oahu took a big step forward Thursday with the first section of seating pulled down from the steel structure.
Half of the elevated deck-level seating on the stadium’s makai side was severed and toppled backward as part of demolition work that began in February.
The other half of the upper makai-side seating is slated to come down Tuesday, followed by similar sections on the mauka side and both end zones, though the concrete foundations for lower-level end-zone seating are being preserved for a new, smaller stadium to rise on the same site.
A private partnership, Aloha Halawa District Partners, led by local developer Stanford Carr, is replacing the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, which opened in 1975 and was shuttered in 2020, with a new stadium featuring up to 31,000 seats.
AHDP is using $350 million of state funding toward the cost of the new stadium, which could be $475 million or more, and will operate and maintain the facility on state land for 30 years with a land lease.
The development team also is to redevelop much of the 98-acre stadium property dominated by parking lots with a new mixed-use community that includes at least 4,100 residences, two hotels, an office tower, retail, entertainment attractions and open spaces expected to be delivered in phases over 25 years and costing close to or more than $5 billion or $6 billion.
Earlier parts of stadium demolition work led by Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. included removing four covered multistory spiral walkways leading to the upper level from the ground, and concourse bridges.
Demolishing the stadium is projected to be done by August, according to Carr.
Building the new facility is expected to be finished in 2029.
Hawaii
This Airbnb Tiny Home Sits on a Lava Field in Hawaii With Unbeatable Night Sky Views—and It’s a Guest Favorite
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