It’s official: even your vacation isn’t safe from climate cash grabs.
While you’re busy booking a cruise and dreaming about sipping something cold while watching the sun set over Waikiki, Hawaii’s government is sharpening its pencils, eyes fixed on your wallet. The latest scheme? A fresh “Green Fee” that sounds like it belongs on a Whole Foods receipt but is actually just a new tourism tax—because nothing says “aloha” like more government revenue.
Democratic Gov. Josh Green proudly announced the new law last week, declaring Hawaii the first state to introduce a climate-based tourist tax on cruise ship passengers. Yes, even the floating hotels are getting slapped with a surcharge now.
“This landmark initiative establishes the first ever climate impact fee, or ‘Green Fee,’ in the nation,” Green’s office said in a May 27 release. It went on to toss around phrases like “resiliency,” “environmental stewardship,” and “sustainable tourism” — all the usual buzzwords that make bureaucrats feel good while they find creative new ways to charge you for visiting the beach.
Here’s the fine print: Senate Bill 1396 raises Hawaii’s transient accommodations tax (TAT) from 10.25% to 11% beginning in 2026. The twist? Cruise ship passengers — who have long avoided the TAT — will now get to join the fun. Their rate goes from 0% to 11%, because “equity,” or whatever.
Translation: if you so much as dock overnight in Hawaii, your cabin bill just got more expensive.
Supporters claim this new fee will generate $100 million annually and help “restore beaches,” “harden infrastructure,” and save the planet — all while funding every vague, feel-good project the state can label “green” without blinking. Naturally, they also made sure to toss in some Hawaiian native terms like ʻāina and kamaʻāina, just to make it sound more spiritual and less like a money grab.
But let’s not kid ourselves. If the past few decades of “infrastructure” and “COVID relief” bills taught us anything, it’s that government spending rarely ends up where it’s promised. Green initiatives? Sure. Until suddenly they’re cutting checks to “equity consultants” and paving bike lanes no one uses while calling it “climate resilience.”
And cruise lines? They have options. The Bahamas, Alaska, Mexico — all destinations with stunning scenery and, so far, fewer climate toll booths. What happens when you slap an 11% tax on ships that could just go elsewhere? They go elsewhere. The economic projections assume business as usual, but if ships steer clear of Hawaii, the Green Fee turns into a Red Deficit.
This isn’t about saving the planet. It’s about expanding government coffers and slapping a shiny climate label on what’s basically just a tourism tax hike. And it comes with the same lazy assumption every tax-happy lawmaker makes: that you’ll just suck it up and pay because there’s nowhere else to go.
Well, there is. Plenty of it. And it’s sunny, beautiful, and 11% cheaper.
So, mahalo, Governor Green, for giving me another reason to vacation somewhere else.