WHO WE ARE

Our membership consists of individuals and grassroots organizations in Hawaii that are dedicated to protecting the vital water resources and sacred lands that Hawai'i is blessed with. In our Federal Citizen's Enforcement Actions in Federal Court, our interests are being represented by individually listed Plaintiffs and Members which include community organizer and activist Mary Maxine Kahaulelio, former OHA Trustee and community activist Clarence 'Ku' Ching, former State Senator, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, and current Co-Chair of the Environmental Caucus, Democratic Party of Hawai`i Melodie Aduja, veteran and peace activist Pete Shimazaki Doktor, and Kim Coco Iwamoto, a former Board of Education member and political candidate for the House of Representatives in 2022.

The Federal Complaint was also amended to add additional claims along with five additional local activists and native Hawaiians, including two kūpuna, as plaintiffs. The first is Hanaloa Helelā, a native Hawaiian activist, military veteran, and member of Kaʻohewai, who has worked for decades to protect the land and water of Hawai’i. Dr. Kalamaoka’aina Niheu also is a native Hawaiian and joins the plaintiff group as a family medicine physician, published author on the effects of militarization in Hawai’i, and co-founder of Mauna Medic Healers Hui. The third new plaintiff is Jade Mahina Frank, a community youth organizer with Hawaii Youth Climate Coalition (HYCC), a warrior for climate justice, and native Hawaiian ‘ōpio. Dr. Lynette Hi’ilani Cruz is a native Hawaiian kupuna plaintiff, a retired professor of anthropology at Hawai’i Pacific University and a community activist for social and environmental justice, and James J. Rodrigues (“Uncle Sparky”), a native Hawaiian kupuna and military veteran plaintiff, with years of community activism for social and environmental justice. Dr. Cruz and Uncle Sparky are both members of Malama Makua.

We are being represented by Sycamore Law Inc., a firm with 30+ years of experience and a specialty in water quality-related cases, Philip Gregory who is co-counsel for Juliana, et al. v. United States, et al. (District of Oregon) an action by 21 youth against agencies of the federal government to address human-made climate change caused by the fossil fuel-based energy, and Harrison & Matsuoka, a local Hawaii law firm. Our subject matter experts include Professor of Environmental Science at West Texas A&M University William Rogers PhD, Environmental Engineer Robert Thomas Jr. P.E., former Secretary of the California EPA and founder of Santa Monica BayKeeper  (now the Los Angeles Waterkeeper ), Terry Tamminen, and former Navy veteran, nuclear power plant operator and supervisor, Pearl Harbor Shipyard safety supervisor, and co-founder of Wai Ola Alliance John Miller.