About Tam and his team
Who is Tam Hunt?
Tam Hunt is a policy lawyer, U.S. Army veteran (1990 to 1994), writer, and activist who believes that political power should start in your community, and not depend on waiting for lawmakers to act.
For 25 years, Tam has focused on local green energy and environmental protection. He successfully sued the state and FEMA to protect the Pohoiki hot ponds. He is working up a new lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense over decades of depleted uranium contamination at Pōhakuloa Training Area, where he trained as a young soldier in the 1990s—work that shows his commitment to holding institutions accountable when they harm Hawaii's people and the 'āina.
As co-founder of Think BIG, a local non-profit, Tam leads initiatives for Big Island resilience, economic equity, and sustainable development. He also sits on the Hawaii EV Association board, promoting electric vehicles, and he writes regularly on policy, philosophy, and the future of Hawaii.
Tam drives a solar-charged EV, and operates from a left-libertarian philosophy: strong belief in local autonomy, individual freedoms, and skepticism of all forms of centralized power.
He believes that Puna's and our island’s future depends on state- and county-level solutions—smart renewable energy policy, water management, education funding, land use authority, zoning, transportation and more.
Tam's life of service
- Policy lawyer for nonprofit clients for over 20 years
- Member of county Energy Task Force
- Co-founder and director of Think BIG, working to improve the Big Island's resilience, equity and sustainability since 2020
- Board member of the Hawaii EV Association for almost a decade
- Chair of the Hawaii EV Association policy committee since 2022
- Lecturer in climate change law and policy at Richardson School of Law
- Lecturer in renewable energy law and policy at UC Santa Barbara Bren School from 2007 to 2014
- Smart and Sustainable Communities working group leader for Mayor Roth's Sustainability Summit 2024
- Author of the 2015 book, Solar: Why Our Energy Future Is So Bright, which predicted, with numbers, the solar revolution occurring now in Hawaii and around the world
- Author of a new book, The Hippies Were Right! About Consciousness and Everything Else, coming out August 2026.
- Author of numerous books looking at the intersection of science, spirituality, and philosophy, such as Mind, World, God, and Eco, Ego, Eros.
Why now?
I found myself habitually shaking my head at the psychopathic and incompetent leadership all around us, at the federal, state and county level. If I can't step up to provide better leadership, then how can I expect anything to change? It's time for a change.
Puna has tripled its tax base in the last two decades and yet services are basically the same as they have been -- this is a fairness issue.
Puna and the Big Island remain incredibly vulnerable to natural and manmade disasters -- this needs to change, fast.
People in our district have the lowest income, worst educational opportunities, and often have to move away to find work and affordable housing. We can and must do much better.
