Hawaii Gov. Josh Green played a major role in a landmark legal settlement that aims to curb climate-warming emissions from cars, trucks and planes across the sprawling island state.
But the Democrat also has voiced support for expanding into a chilled fossil fuel: liquefied natural gas.
A month before signing the June legal agreement, Green suggested that importing LNG could serve as a “bridge” between expensive oil imports and the state’s goal of 100 percent renewable electricity. That revived a debate Hawaii environmentalists thought was settled.
The dichotomy between slashing greenhouse gas emissions and mulling supercooled gas has left environmentalists and climate activists bewildered — and concerned that turning to LNG would run counter to the state’s legal obligation to slash carbon dioxide emissions.