Hawaii high court hears argument about wind farm, bats
April 3, 2021
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HONOLULU (AP) The Hawaii Supreme Court has heard arguments regarding a dispute regarding how many endangered Hawaiian hoary bats a wind farm is allowed to kill.
The Na Pua Makani wind farm has sparked controversy after 200 people were arrested trying to stop its massive turbines from being hauled from the port at Kalaeloa to Kahuku, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday.
Now the 24-megawatt project is at the center of a legal dispute with the nonprofit Keep the North Shore Country over the developer’s habitat conservation plan and incidental take license, which allows the turbines to kill 51 bats over 21 years.
Kahuku Wind Farm Case Goes Before Hawaii Supreme Court - Honolulu Civil Beat
Kahuku Wind Farm Case Goes Before Hawaii Supreme Court
The oral arguments Thursday were the first of three Hawaii’s highest court will hear involving renewable energy projects. Reading time: 5 minutes.
The fate of dozens of endangered hoary bats was at the center of state Supreme Court arguments on Thursday in a case that could stall the operations of a controversial wind farm in Kahuku and raise the stakes for other renewable energy projects in Hawaii.
The legal challenge was the latest manifestation of growing community opposition to the positioning of clean-energy projects, including the Na Pua Makani wind farm on Oahu’s North Shore and the Hu Honua bioenergy plant on the Big Island.