Governor Josh Green welcomed the lawmakers’ decision to increase tourist taxes and dedicate the new money to what’s called Hawaii’s climate emergency. Now he says there will be hundreds of millions for climate-related projects without driving visitors away. The money could be enough to restore beaches or buy out threatened shoreline properties, harden infrastructure, like roads and utilities, to resist increasingly powerful storms, and restore greenery and forests ravaged by neglect or drought and now fuel for wildfires. Officials estimate the increase would generate $100 million in new revenue annually.
