Leading Hawai'i to an independent energy future is a goal that we must and will achieve. Energy underpins our society, powers our economy and sustains our way of life. It is an issue we have set in the right direction for our energy future. Our comprehensive plan transcends politics, and now more than ever, must gain everyone's support.

The challenge is simple: Hawai'i is addicted to foreign oil. It is convenient and — until recently — cheap and plentiful, and we have become the most dependent state in the nation.

However, both our economy and our environment have paid a price for our dependence on oil. Each year, depending on the price of a barrel of oil, we send between $3 billion to as much as $7 billion out of state to pay for our addiction. If just a portion of that money could stay here at home, it would significantly strengthen our economy, provide better paying jobs for our people, as well as protect our environment.

The issue of energy independence has been discussed for a long time, but it wasn't until 2006 that Gov. Linda Lingle initiated a clear resolve to embrace energy independence.

But the issue goes beyond price. If we do not control our energy resources, we do not control our future. As the global gap between capacity and demand narrows in the years ahead, the petroleum market will be even more volatile than it was this past summer.

The opportunity is before us to change all that.

In January 2008, our state leaders committed to an unprecedented and innovative partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy that aims to have at least 70 percent of Hawai'i's power come from clean energy by 2030.

It is called the Hawai'i Clean Energy Initiative and it is a national model, if not a world model, in both its goal and its scope. But its goal is achievable, because Hawai'i is blessed with overabundant renewable resources, including constant sunshine, strong trade winds, powerful waves and volcanic activity and a year-round growing season for biofuels.

The road to that 70 percent goal will be a series of steps — some small and others momentous — all toward a single vision and a single objective.

Most recently, a historic accord was reached between the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the State Consumer Advocate, and the Hawaiian Electric companies.

Highlights of the agreement include a commitment to first integrate 1,100 megawatts of renewable energy specific projects — over half the peak load of all the islands' electricity — into the Hawaiian Electric companies' grids, facilitated by the construction of an undersea cable that will allow renewable wind power from Maui County to be transmitted to O'ahu.

We must also pursue a wide spectrum of renewable energy alternatives — each with its own niche in the energy picture. We cannot shut out or be deterred by not exploring any potential technology that can help us achieve our goal.

There will be a place for biofuels. There will be a place for wind energy. There will be a place for wave energy, ocean thermal energy, geothermal, solar, and electric and alternative fuel vehicles. We fully expect that each will find its place in Hawai'i's energy picture of 2030.

Energy conservation such as insulated home and energy-efficient appliances will also play an important role.

All will be part of the action-oriented plan that includes new infrastructure, new partnerships, new rules and legislation that make it easy for all of us to conserve energy and convert to renewable clean energy — all imperative to the secure economic future and clean environment our children and their children deserve.

So let's get on with it.

Ted Peck is the administrator of the State Energy Office. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.