By Climate Advisory Team

One year ago, Governor Josh Green, M.D., established the Hawaiʻi Climate Advisory Team (CAT). The Governor’s charge to our group was urgent and clear: develop policy recommendations that minimize the impacts of future climate-related disasters like the 2023 Maui wildfires, and speed recovery from the physical and financial damage they cause. 

Throughout the year, our six-person team worked tirelessly to understand Hawaiʻi’s climate and disaster vulnerabilities, identify evidence-based solutions to mitigate these vulnerabilities, and advance legislation that ensures these solutions are funded and implemented. With the passage of Act 96, also known as the “Green Fee,” we are proud to have helped secure a sustainable funding stream of roughly $100 million per year for disaster resilience work in Hawaiʻi.

By Andrew Gomes for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

An Army combat veteran with high-level fire safety job experience in Arizona is Hawaii’s new state fire marshal.

A state council has appointed Dori Booth to the position leading an office resurrected by state lawmakers in 2024 in response to the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfire disaster, which killed 102 people and destroyed most of Lahaina.

Gov. Josh Green announced Booth’s selection Monday and said it marks a historic return to a centralized approach to statewide fire protection in Hawaii.

By Charlotte Phillipp for People Magazine

Legislators in Hawaii are implementing a hefty tax on tourism that they believe will help the state government take action against climate change.

According to the Associated Press and USA Today, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signed a bill on Tuesday, May 27, that increased a tax on hotel room, vacation rentals and cruise ships to raise money to be used for issues such as eroding shorelines, wildfires and more.

Known as the first ever "Green Fee" in the country, Hawaii's Act 96 will raise the state's current transient accommodations tax (TAT) by 0.75%, making the taxes on nightly lodging rates 11%. The tax will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, according to a press release from Green's office.

By Dan Nakaso for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

An upcoming increase in the state hotel room tax of less than 1% — or $3 more per night for a $400 room — won’t deter any of nearly two dozen Waikiki tourists from coming back, especially if it provides money to restore beaches, fight erosion and prevent future wildfires, they unanimously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Wednesday.

“It wouldn’t discourage me,” Sam Powell, 33, of Roanoke, Va., said on Kalakaua Avenue in the middle of his first trip to Oahu with his wife, sister, brother-in-law and nephews. “It’s just another $3 a night.”

Visitors up and down Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues unanimously supported the increase in the state’s Transient Accommodations Tax that begins Jan. 1 and was signed into law by Gov. Josh Green on Tuesday as Act 96.

By Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial Board

Gov. Josh Green signed “first-in-the-nation” legislation on Tuesday, adding 0.75% to Hawaii’s transient accommodations tax on hotel stays and cruise-ship port calls to raise funding for climate change-related projects, including wildfire threat reduction.

By Ashley J. DiMella for Fox News

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, has signed into law a "Green Fee" bill that will raise tourist taxes to help fund "climate-change" mitigation.

Senate Bill 1396 raises the tourist tax on Hawaii hotels to 11% starting Jan. 1 — which would then increase to 12% the following year, according to the text of the bill.

Portions of the revenue raised would go into the "Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Special Fund" and the "Economic Development and Revitalization Special Fund," according to the bill.

By Marni Rose McFall for Newsweek

Governor Josh Green has signed legislation boosting the tax on hotel rooms and vacation rentals as Hawaii seeks to raise money to help address the potential ramifications of climate change.

Known for its beautiful beaches and tropical climate, Hawaii has long been a popular tourist destination, and increasing numbers of Americans have visited the state since 2014. In 2022, 7 million American tourists went to Hawaii, according to Statista.

In August 2023, wildfires ignited across the island of Maui, with flames being spurred on by strong winds. The fires left 102 people dead and caused considerable damage to the city of Lahaina, with up to 80 percent of it destroyed. Green mentioned the state's need for additional firebreaks at Tuesday's bill signing.

By Ashley Mizuo for Hawaiʻi Public Radio

Gov. Josh Green has signed what’s being called the “Green Fee” into law. It raises the state’s transient accommodations tax by 0.75 percentage points, bringing it to 11%.

It also puts the tax on cruise ships, which have not been paying any hotel tax. The tax increase will go into effect in 2026.

The increased revenue will go toward climate resilience. Green explained that it’s a major step forward for the state to adapt to climate change.

By Kathleen Wong for USA Today

Hawaii became the first U.S. state to establish a climate impact fee on Tuesday, placing an additional tax on tourists to fund climate change resiliency projects and environmental stewardship within the islands.

As the country's inaugural "Green Fee," Act 96 will raise the state's current transient accommodations tax (TAT) by 0.75% for a total of 11% placed upon the nightly lodging rate, effective Jan. 1, 2026, according to a press release by Governor Josh Green's office.

By Elizabeth ʻUfi for Pacific Business News

Staying at hotel in Hawaii is about to get even more expensive. Beginning next year, visitors staying at a Hawaii hotel or short-term rental will have to pay an added .75% climate-impact fee to the state's existing transient accommodations tax, raising the state visitor tax bill to nearly 11%.

This means a $100 hotel room for one night would now cost an additional 75 cents, with the total charge being $115.5 including the increased TAT from $10.25 to $11 and $4.50 from base general excise tax and county surcharge fees.

The fee is the first-ever climate impact fee, coined the "Green Fee", signed into law by Gov. Josh Green on Tuesday. He said revenue from the fee is projected to generate $100 million annually and would be intended to fund climate protection and environmental resilience efforts, such as wildfire prevention and sea-level rise adaptation.

By Dan Nakaso for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Everyone who stays in a Hawaii hotel, cruise ship or other lodging beginning Jan. 1 will pay an extra $3 for every $400 in overnight costs — or an additional $30 for every $4,000 spent to stay in the islands — to help Hawaii pay to address climate change and reduce the risk of future wildfires.

Gov. Josh Green signed Senate Bill 1396 into law as Act 96 on Tuesday while surrounded by representatives of Hawaii’s tourism and lodging industries who cheered on the new law, along with state legislators who navigated the bill through the legislative session that just ended.

By Audrey McAvoy for The Independent

Hawaii has enacted a law to increase taxes on hotel rooms and vacation rentals, with the goal of generating funds to combat climate change effects such as shoreline erosion and wildfires.

Signed into law on Tuesday by Governor Josh Green, the legislation is projected to generate around $100 million each year. These funds will support initiatives, including replenishing sand on Waikiki beaches, promoting the use of hurricane clips to secure roofs, and removing flammable invasive grasses that contributed to the devastating Lahaina wildfire.

By Guardian Staff and Agencies

Hawaii’s governor signed legislation that boosts a tax imposed on hotel room and vacation rental stays in order to raise money to address the consequences of the climate crisis.

It’s the first time in a government in the US imposes such levy to help cope with a warming planet.

By Audrey McAvoy for The Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s governor signed legislation Tuesday that boosts a tax imposed on hotel room and vacation rental stays in order to raise money to address eroding shorelines, wildfires and other consequences of climate change.

The signing, which comes nearly two years after a Maui wildfire killed 102 people and wiped out almost all of Lahaina town, marks the nation’s first such levy to help cope with a warming planet.

By HNN Staff

Gov. Josh Green is signing into law a bill that creates a first-of-its-kind “green fee’ to help Hawaii address the impacts of climate change.

Senate Bill 1396 increases the tax visitors pay on hotels, vacation rentals, and cruise ships that dock at Hawaii ports by 0.75%.

The green fee would be added to each county’s 3% lodging tax and a 4.7% general excise tax. That would push a visitor’s tax bill to more than 18.7%, among the highest in the nation.

The fee is expected to raise about $100 million a year for projects to make the state’s infrastructure more resilient to the climate crisis.

By Marcel Honoré for Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaiʻi has officially become the first U.S. state to enact a so-called “green fee” — a charge added onto hotel room stays and other short-term visits to help protect the local environment and address the growing impacts of climate change.

Gov. Josh Green signed the fee into law Tuesday after years of unsuccessfully urging the Legislature to pass it. Set to take effect next year, the fee could raise around $100 million annually, state officials estimate, a portion of which will go toward Hawaiʻi’s response to future disasters similar to the 2023 Lahaina wildfire.

By Kimber Collins for KITV Island News

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Island News) -- Governor Josh Green signed Senate Bill 1396 into law, officially creating Hawaii’s first "Green Fee" funded through a targeted increase to the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT).

The goal: protect the islands from climate change by having visitors, not locals, help foot the bill.

“We have an affordability crisis in our state. We can't just tax the local people anymore,” said Governor Green during Monday’s press conference at the State Capitol.

By Jill Kuramoto for KHON2

HONOLULU (KHON2) — After years of political back and forth, the pen finally hit the paper.

“I hope the world is watching because having something that is a balance between industry and environment is gonna be the way to go forward to protect our people, to protect our states protect your economy,” Gov. Josh Green said. “And most importantly, to protect the lifestyles and the lives we want our children to have for generations to come.”

Green today signed into law Senate Bill 1396, now Act 96. It’s the first of its kind in the nation and creates what’s being called a “Climate Impact Fee” also known as “The Green Fee.”

By Thomas Heaton for Honolulu Civil Beat

This year, the Legislature passed House Bill 1064, which included the revitalization of the Office of the State Fire Marshal and other measures to address shortcomings identified by the Attorney General’s Office in January, in the last of its post-fire reports. 

Hawaiʻi has thrown money at additional fire prevention efforts, including better wildfire forecasting and increased funding for the state wildland firefighting crews, among other things. But much of the prevention work like that needed on the west side of Oʻahu will fall to the future Hawaiʻi state fire marshal, a role expected to be filled some time next month.

By New York Times Opinion

2. Get creative with state policies.

Josh Green, governor of Hawaii: In May, Hawaii became the first state to pass a climate impact fee that will enable us to protect ourselves against climate-related disasters like the devastating Maui fires. A small, 0.75 percent increase in the hotel tax for all travelers to Hawaii will generate $100 million per year, which may also be used to bond $1 billion annually. These resources will fund new research, development and deployment of strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change, such as reducing carbon emissions, protecting and restoring ecosystems and building climate-resilient infrastructure and communities. This is just one example of how state and local governments can take control of their own fates and survive harsh federal cuts.