#Earthjustice

The water commission has yet to approve any of the more than 140 permit applications for water use in West Maui that were filed two years ago shortly before the Lahaina fire.

The environmental law firm claims the golf courses unlawfully used millions of gallons of potable water to irrigate their greens, and that the state water commission chair knew about it.

According to Earthjustice, the board has been conducting business and making decisions without satisfying the required qualifications since one of the board members left in August.

Hawai‘i Land Trust will honor D. Kapua‘ala Sproat and Isaac Moriwake at its 24th-annual Buy Back the Beach benefit lūʻau from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at the Old Lāhainā Lū‘au on Maui.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation has released its final Energy Security and Waste Reduction Plan, a comprehensive roadmap to zero transportation emissions by 2045, as required by the landmark, Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation climate settlement. The release of the plan fulfills a key commitment under the judicially enforceable agreement, which is the world’s […]

The state Commission on Water Resource Management heard testimony Tuesday from West Maui residents frustrated with the commission’s “inaction” in managing delivery of water to residents and farmers in a region beset by a severe drought. The dry conditions underpinned Tuesday’s announcement by the PGA Tour that it would not hold its annual The Sentry […]

The ruling nullifies a National Marine Fisheries Service letter sent April 25 that gave commercial fishers a green light to fish in the national monument south and southwest of Hawai’i following an executive order by President Donald Trump.

Gov. Josh Green is coming under pressure from dozens of Native Hawaiian and other community advocacy organizations to appoint a “loea,” or expert, in Native Hawaiian water management to the state Commission on Water Resource Management.

The Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled in a 4-1 decision today that the pet industry’s environmental review of commercial aquarium fish collection in West Hawai‘i is legally adequate.

Conservation groups and the Grand Wailea Resort have reached a settlement agreement to protect endangered Hawaiian petrels (‘ua‘u) while the resort seeks a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court on Thursday issued a landmark decision in the long-running water case over Nā Wai ‘Ehā, “The Four Waters” of Waihe‘e, Waiehu, Wailuku, and Waikapū in central Maui. In a 134-page unanimous opinion authored by Justice Sabrina McKenna, the court ruled in favor of Maui community groups Hui o Nā Wai ‘Ehā and Maui Tomorrow Foundation, who were represented by Earthjustice, and joined by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA).

After a settle agreement on Thursday, the State of Hawaiʻi will now recognize children’s constitutional rights to a life-sustaining climate. The settlement involves mobilizing the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) to develop a plan to decarbonize the state’s transportation system by 2045.

A coalition of conservation groups today filed a second lawsuit to protect endangered Hawaiian petrels (ʻuaʻu) from lights at the Grand Wailea Resort on Maui. Today’s lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Earthjustice officials said they are asking to extend the deadline to Aug. 14 for public comment on Maui County’s proposal to reduce the amount of treated sewage entering the ocean from injection wells at the Lahaina Wastewater Treatment Plant due to the Lahaina wildfire.

The Hawai‘i Department of Health is seeking public comment on a proposed Clean Water Act permit for the County of Maui’s Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility. This is the first time a permit is being proposed for a wastewater treatment facility that discharges to the ocean via groundwater.

Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund co-founder Hannah Bernard is happy with the successes of her groups on Maui and Hawaiʻi islands, including the scores of volunteers who help to clean up marine debris. The nonprofit educational organization is part of a broad movement to protect endangered species, such as the Hawksbill and green sea turtle, and to take measures to maintain clean coastal waters. Maui Now writer Gary Kubota talks to Bernard about Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund’s successes and future challenges in this People of Maui series.

A judge has ruled in favor of Hawaiʻi youth plaintiffs in the climate case, Navahine F. v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation. The case argues the state transportation system causes high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, violating the youth plaintiffs’ state constitutional rights and public trust doctrine. The case will now proceed to trial.

Earthjustice filed suit today on behalf of the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i and native Hawaiian cultural practitioner Mike Nakachi seeking protection of a host of threatened and endangered Pacific Ocean species from harm.

The youth plaintiffs contend that the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation operates a transportation system that emits high levels of greenhouse gasses, violating their state constitutional rights.

In accordance with a recent settlement agreement, the Grand Wailea Resort on Maui has implemented protective measures, including reducing lighting, to help protect the endangered ‘ua‘u, or Hawaiian petrel.