On Tuesday, Hawaii’s Democratic Gov. Josh Green signed the law to the first US climate change tax.
The new law is considered a “green fee” and claims it is working hard to make tourists on the Island of Hawaii pay share for their carbon footprint.
greenWhile signing the new law, “people are important so that they can protect these incredible assets in places where shoreline erosion is near hotels.”
“The people we are evacuated, we can help them, we can see sea level rise coming, we can adapt, we can actually get these resources from hard money, and we can build bonds from these dollars to see Congress as appropriate for the state’s speed-up needs,” Green added.
The new law begins in January next year and will consist of 0.75% tax on visitors staying in hotels and rentals.
Hawaii will become the first state to charge visitors climate fees @jeremyyurow https://t.co/cetuqmsyqp
– Court News (@courthouseNews) May 28, 2025
Around Hawaii News Now:
On Tuesday, Gov. Josh Green signed the country’s first accommodation tax to force tourists to pay shared climate change impacts.
State officials and environmentalists promoted the first “green fees” as a groundbreaking law that other states can model to build disaster resilience.
“Because that’s important, people understand that we can protect these incredible assets in places that are eroding the coastline near our hotels,” Green said.
We can help them because we have people who are evacuated, we can see sea level rise coming, we can actually get these resources from hard money, and we can build bonds from these dollars because Congress sees it as appropriate because Congress needs the need for expression in our state.
Starting January 1st, visitors staying in Hawaii hotels and short-term rentals will need to add 0.75% to their existing temporary accommodation tax (TAT).
Hawaii is currently punishing tourists. https://t.co/igmrrbten2
– Sean Curran (@seandelanza) May 28, 2025
The new law covers cruise ship passengers who pay proportionate taxes for the number of days the cruise ship is in Hawaii Port.
