Hawaii lawmakers cleared a major hurdle Tuesday in their effort to hold the oil and gas industry responsible for higher insurance bills.
The state House of Representatives passed legislation that would allow the state, and encourage insurers, to sue large fossil fuel companies for what they describe as disrupting the state insurance market.
Similar measures have been proposed by progressive legislators in other states, but Hawaii’s has gone the furthest. If it advances, the measure could open a legal battlefront against major energy companies, whom environmentalists and some lawmakers say need to chip in as extreme weather events cause damages in communities.
Hawaii state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D), who has championed the legislation, said the public remains scarred by the memory of wildfires that torched Maui in 2023 and is still reeling from historic rains last month that caused extensive flooding.
