Robert Kennedy Jr. at Hawaii's Blue Planet Summit

KHON NEWS

By Tannya Joaquin

The same elements that make Hawaii a tourist hotspot could make our Island home the perfect place to harness alternative energy.

"Hawaii is an Island economy" says Kennedy. "It's a global epicenter for solar power, for geothermal power for wind and for tidal. It doesn't make any sense that Hawaii is 93 percent dependent on oil that's created in the Middle East."

The mission of Hawaii's first Blue Planet Summit is to initiate change in world energy culture, inspired by Native Hawaiian concepts of sustainability.

"Some people consider it might cause an affront to Pele" says Kennedy. "But we have to also think broader, does Pele want us to be serving the God of Exxon?"

Hawaii's Clean Energy initiative sets an ambitious goal-- to have 70 percent of the state's energy needs come from renewable sources by 2030.

According to Kennedy, "What we need to do is rejigger the rules of the free market so the free market does what it's supposed to do which is to reward good behavior which is efficiency and to punish bad behavior which is inefficiency and waste."

Kennedy cites California and Iceland as examples.

Both have made major strides toward clean energy.

"It's not a pipe dream. It's not a fantasy" explains Kennedy. "This is happening and people are making a lot of money doing this. Hawaii needs to jump on the gravy train."

For more information about the 3-day meeting at Ko Olina Resort, go to blueplanetsummit.org