Hawaii plans to increase hotel tax to help cope with climate change

In a first-of-its kind move, lawmakers of the U.S. state of Hawaii are ready to hike a tax imposed on travelers staying in hotels, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations and earmark the new money for programs to cope with a warming planet.

State leaders say they'll use the funds for projects like replenishing sand on eroding beaches, helping homeowners install hurricane clips on their roofs and removing invasive grasses like those that fueled the deadly wildfire that destroyed Lahaina two years ago.

A bill scheduled for House and Senate votes on Wednesday would add an additional 0.75 percent to the daily room rate tax starting January 1. It's all but certain to pass given Democrats hold super majorities in both chambers and party leaders have agreed on the measure, the report said.

Governor Josh Green has said he would sign it into law. According to Green, Hawaii was the first state in the nation to do something along these lines.

Andrey Yushkov, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, said that he was unaware of any other state that has set aside lodging tax revenue for the purposes of environmental protection or climate change.

(Cover: A view of Hawaii, the United States. /VCG)