Isaac Moriwake

Managing Attorney

Mid-Pacific Office

Isaac looks directly at the viewer with an open, friendly smile. He's wearing a bright blue collar buttoned-down shirt with light blue patterns of waves and water symbols. He is standing in front of a white backdrop.

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HI

Pronouns

he / him

Isaac Moriwake

Managing Attorney Mid-Pacific Office

Media Inquiries

Miranda Fox
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
mfox@earthjustice.org

Isaac Moriwake is the Managing Attorney in the Mid-Pacific regional office, which has been serving clients, communities, and the public interest in Hawai‘i and the greater Pacific for over three decades. The team’s legal campaigns and victories include accelerating climate and clean energy solutions, upholding the public trust in natural resources including water, and restoring irreplaceable native biodiversity, ecosystems, and cultural lifeways.

Isaac has decades of experience practicing before federal and state courts and agencies on a range of issues, including water rights and natural resources law, Native Hawaiian rights, endangered species, environmental health and disclosure, and climate and clean energy.

He graduated from Pomona College in International Relations, and from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi. After law school, he clerked for Justice Paula A. Nakayama of the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaiʻi.

Expert Posts & Articles

Earthjustice Managing Attorney Isaac Moriwake surveys rooftop solar
August 11, 2025

10 Years Into Green Energy Law, Move Hawaiʻi Forward

Hawaiʻi led the way in committing to a 100% clean energy future — on the 10th anniversary of that milestone, the state needs to lead more than ever.
The newly restored flows to `Īao Stream (traditionally known as Wailuku River).
December 10, 2024

Hawaiʻi High Court Sides with Native Community Groups in Water Dispute

The decision bolsters Hawaiʻi’s public trust framework, a legal doctrine establishing that natural resources must be protected for public use
Earthjustice attorney Isaac Moriwake speaks at the Navahine + Hawai’i Department of Transportation youth climate settlement celebration at ‘Iolani Palace on June 24th, 2024.
October 30, 2024

5 Questions: Attorney Isaac Moriwake Reflects on Landmark Hawai‘i Cases

Isaac Moriwake, longtime environmental attorney at Earthjustice, reflects on recent cases that now have potential to improve on the status quo.
December 13, 2022

Hawai‘i Continues to Light The Way For Rooftop Solar

In November 2022, Hawai‘i took a major step forward on advancing its rooftop solar and clean energy grid.
Fog surrounds Mauna Kea.
December 21, 2018

Hawai‘i High Court Fixes Flawed Footnotes in Mauna Kea Decision, but Problems Persist

The language the court deleted would have plagued the law of environmental and Native Hawaiian rights for years.
The Waime canyon and river in Kaua'i, Hawai'i
May 5, 2017

Waimea Water Deal Is a ‘Win-Win-Win’ for Hawai‘i

For the first time in more than 100 years, the Waimea River will flow from mountain to sea—thanks to successful mediation, not years of litigation.

Media Inquiries

Miranda Fox
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
mfox@earthjustice.org

Bar Admissions

HI

Pronouns

he / him

Quoted in the News

July 9, 2026

Canary Media

Hawaiʻi committed to 100 % clean energy. Now it’s flirting with natural gas.

“The PUC takes its job very seriously. These are very technical issues.”
May 22, 2026

Hawaii News Now

HECO and environmental advocates split over Hawaii clean-air plan

“It’s really something else for HECO to be double-crossing Hawaii regulators and ratepayers like this.”
June 30, 2025

Hoodline

Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation Unveils Bold Plan to Halve Emissions and Cut Waste by 2030

“We appreciate HDOT working to implement the Navahine settlement and plan for the safer, cheaper and cleaner transportation system we need to protect the fundamental rights of our youth.”
March 8, 2024

Grist

How changes to Hawaiʻi’s home battery program could hinder its clean energy transition

“You ought to consider the big picture of how not only individual systems, but the aggregate, are able to respond to grid needs on call, and respond to emergencies. There’s big-time value there.”
February 20, 2024

Honolulu Civil Beat

Proposed HECO Bailout Bill Could Force The Utility Company To Restructure

“I appreciate what the legislators are trying to do here in stepping up and protecting the ratepayer and public and adding some balance to a deal that was originally stacked 100% in the utility’s favor.”
February 12, 2024

PV Magazine

Hawaii legislation seeks to undo “massive momentum killer” for rooftop solar

“In my 15 years working with this Commission, this decision is the most drastic misstep I have seen — up there with slamming the curtain on net metering eight years ago, but with potentially more disastrous results.”

Latest Press Statements

May 18, 2026

Trump Administration’s EPA Rejects Hawaiʻi’s Clean Air Plan

The agency decision disregards Hawaiian Electric's own promises to retire aging oil-burning plants
March 12, 2026

Billion-Dollar Math Error Blows Up Green Administration’s Fossil Gas Import Plan

Earthjustice responds to the fatal math mistake in the HI State Energy Office’s cost calculations
November 17, 2025

Water Commission Allows Golf Course to Unlawfully Irrigate with Drinking Water Amid Ongoing West Maui Drought

Since August, the commission chair has knowingly let TY Management Corp. use potable groundwater for golf turf irrigation in violation of the law
Thirteen youth from across the Hawaiian Islands brought the case Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, asserting their rights to a safe and healthy climate.
June 30, 2025

State Plan to Reduce Transportation Emissions Released for Public Comment

This is a major early step in the recent settlement of Hawai‘i’s youth climate lawsuit, Navahine v. HDOT
The newly restored flows to `Īao Stream (traditionally known as Wailuku River).
June 24, 2024

Hawai‘i’s High Court Issues Another Historic Ruling in Maui “Four Waters” Case

State Water Commission failed to restore stream flows after closure of last sugar plantation
Solar panels on the roof of the Kapiʻolani Medical Center parking garage in Oahu, Hawaiʻi.
December 23, 2020

Public Utility Commission Issues Landmark Decision on Utility Business Model Reform

Broad reforms to modernize how the Hawaiian Electric Company runs its business and advances clean energy goals