• This is a big deal • Keep local control • Focus on real issue • Investigate for yourself • Important decision looms This is a big deal I’m very happy to see so many people showed up to support
• This is a big deal • Keep local control • Focus on real issue • Investigate for yourself • Important decision looms
This is a big deal
I’m very happy to see so many people showed up to support the anti-GMO bill.
There are many letters to the editor saying that we are making a mountain out of a mole hill and are misinformed about the industry. Well, here are some facts.
1) The only way to have absolutely no ill effects from chemicals is to leave them in the container. No matter how they are applied, there will be some side effects to something.
So, that means that all the chemicals they use will spread and have residual effects down the road, if not immediately. Just because the overspray doesn’t burn your skin the way battery acid does, people feel there is no damage.
2) The seeds they create are only good for one crop. The seeds collected from that crop won’t work in the same manner and often don’t work at all.
Man collected and reused seeds for thousands of years. But if today’s science continues, we will be forced to rely on the seed companies to have even a home garden. I really don’t want that.
Some people are worried about going back to the “dark ages” of farming, but I say, please bring it back.
The seed companies say that they provide jobs, but so does war. The only ones making money during a war are those making and selling weapons and munitions.
Jack Custer
Kalaheo
Keep local control
Pesticide disclosure, buffer zones and a moratorium are the immediate objectives of Bill 2491. But retaining control over local affairs and preserving democracy at a local level are riding on passage of Bill 2491, too.
A bill introduced into the state legislature in January of this year, SB 590, would have enshrined into Hawaii law as “generally accepted farming practice” the open air spraying of restricted use pesticides such as is the focus of Bill 2491. Among those Kauai residents submitting testimony opposing the bill were Council members Bynum and Furfaro, who said in part that the management practices of big biotech are evolving; Furfaro called it a “moving target.” Three weeks after introduction, SB 590 was deferred (killed) in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
If the council fails to pass a strong version of Bill 2491, would big biotech reintroduce the language of SB 590 into another bill?
So who would carry the standard to Honolulu? Gov. Abercrombie famously told the biotech industry they don’t need to lobby him because he’s already on board. And Sen. Kouchi wouldn’t even support labeling. Indicators are the state will deny, not facilitate, Kauai’s right to know.
Here are the parameters in which the council can maneuver: The biotech lobby can’t start its campaign in the state legislature until it reconvenes in January, so that is your window of opportunity. You have the advantage of choosing the venue where the fate of right to know will be ultimately determined, either the legislature or the courts. The executive and legislative branches of the state government will bury right to know. The better choice is to pass a robust version of Bill 2491 now.
Statesmanship is defined by moments in history just like this. If you want Kauai’s future in Kauai’s hands, pass Bill 2491.
Kip Goodwin
Kapaa
Focus on real issue
TGI published a letter by Mr. Michael Mann (Aug. 20) about the dire consequences to employment if Bill 2491 is passed. This is just one of many opposing letters that use this argument.
Since Bill 2491 will not result in any lost jobs — even the moratorium section won’t have any effect on current employment — these series of letters make me wonder why the opponents of 2491 keep bringing this up. It seems to me that there can only be two reasons.
The first is that this is just a tactic to take the discussion away from the real issue, their pesticide usage, which they don’t want to or can’t defend.
The second, more ominously, is that they know when all the information is revealed, they will be forced to operate differently to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Kauai.
In either case, it is up to the council to protect our health. I urge the council to pass 2491.
Robert Rosen
Lihue
Investigate for yourself
It is astonishing how little effort people put into researching important issues like disease inducing poisons.
Unfortunately, there are no longer any trustworthy industry regulating bodies in USA. The EPA, USDA, FDA, FCC and more are basically rubber stamps to support industry with watered down safety regulation that don’t interfere with profit.
The government cannot be trusted.
This is the information age, which means the investigation age. I would also like county commissioners to know that the community will back you if you are coerced.
When more people do the research and stand up, Kauai can lead the state and fed on safety issues! It starts with each citizen taking the time to get informed.
Ray Songtree
Hanalei
Important decision looms
The AG/pesticide awareness Bill 2491 is so difficult to figure out because of the misinformation out there on both sides of the issue. The final result of the vote is probably one the most important of our lifetimes. Big business and making a dollar vs the health of our people, water, air and soil.
If the bill passes, it doesn’t mean the end of anything but the beginning of much-needed awareness of what is going on in our Aina. We have to do what’s right soon. People and land are suffering more each day we delay.
Joe Horak
Kapaa
