Kupu Climate Resilience Crews

Kupu proposes $10 million for a scalable pilot project to create Hawaiʻi-based climate disaster resilience crews. We would establish crews and expand our fire mitigation internships to address emergency readiness statewide trained for mitigation and response to natural disasters and wildfires. In future years, we plan to assess readiness of homes and private property to withstand climate disasters. The state’s limited disaster preparedness and response capacity has been exacerbated by the recent trend of more frequent and more severe risks that climate change pose to Hawaiʻi. Kupu would capitalize on our previous experience from the EŌ Maui Program implemented following the 2023 wildfires. At $10 million, we would establish a crew of up to 130 members to support necessary work to prevent wildfires and promote a more resilient landscape throughout the state. At $3 million, we would create a solid 30-member crew to service the state with more modest results due to economies of scale.