Judge Larry Potter stresses the importance of building community collaboration to solve our environmental issues.
You might first be asking, what is the Hawaiʻi Environmental Court? Hawaii has once again taking another major step in leading the country in environmental protection by forming the court as a way to “ensure the fair, consistent, and effective resolution of cases involving the environment,” as quoted by Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald. The court is only the second in the nation, behind Vermont’s, which implemented theirs in 1990.
On April 25, Keep the Hawaiian Islands Beautiful, a chapter of Keep America Beautiful, worked with their partners to hold a Hawaiʻi Environmental Court Workshop for the City and County of Honolulu. The workshop was focuses on “Debris, Illegal Dumping and Community Environment Enforcement.” The keynote speaker was Judge Larry Potter from Shelby County Tennessee, who is a legend in the environmental law field. HWMO had the honor of speaking at this event that hosted fifty people, many of whom were students at the University of Hawaiʻi William S. Richardson School of Law. HWMO’s Pablo Beimler made the connection, during his presentation, between illegal green waste dumping and vehicular abandonment to added wildfire risk on the islands. We thank Keep the Hawaiian Islands Beautiful for the opportunity to share during this special occasion.
