Hawaii lawmakers move to block local bans on GMOs & pesticides

John Upton
Grist.org
Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:29 UTC

© Shutterstock

Late last year, the Kauai and Hawaii County councils passed laws restricting the use of pesticides and experimental GMOs on their slices of Hawaiian paradise. But those laws could soon be sunk by state lawmakers.

Hawaii County's rules ban biotech giants from the island and prohibit the new planting of GMO crops (farmers who already grow GMO crops may continue doing so). Kauai's rules require disclosures from anyone growing GMOs or spraying agricultural pesticides and the creation of pesticide-free buffer zones near schools, parks, hospitals, and homes.

Enter House Bill 2506. Hawaii has long been a haven for scientists conducting trials for Monsanto, Syngenta, and other agricultural giants - and the bill aims to keep it that way. If passed and signed, it would block local governments from enacting their own agricultural rules.

"No law, ordinance, or resolution of any unit of local government shall be enacted that abridges the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural technology, modern livestock production, and ranching practices not prohibited by federal or state law, rules, or regulations," the bill states.

If you were to glance at the legislation, you could be forgiven for thinking it was designed to help Farmer Bob continue tilling his land despite opposition from NIMBY new neighbors. From the bill:

The legislature finds that during the last several decades, population growth and migration to Hawaii has resulted in urban encroachment into rural areas traditionally reserved for agricultural activity. This intrusion brings inevitable conflict when new neighbors face dust, pesticide use, noise, and other activity typical of farming operations.

The purpose of this Act is to protect the farmer's freedom to farm and promote lawful and proven agricultural activities by bona fide farmers that are consistent with long-standing state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.

Why are state lawmakers so eager to quash the anti-GMO laws? Truthout has some insight:

During the 2012 election cycle, Monsanto and two lobbyists that represent the company were among the top 15 donors to Sen. Clarence Nishihara, the bill's main sponsor in the state Senate, according to state records. During the same election year, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, another sponsor in the Senate, received a combined $3,650 of donations from Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Dow Chemical and an additional $5,450 from Monsanto lobbyists and industry representatives.

The biotech heavyweights aren't waiting for state lawmakers to protect their experimental operations. They recently filed a lawsuit against the County of Kauai, alleging that it has been "irrationally" restricted from operating within "arbitrarily drawn" zones. "The Bill also imposes unwarranted and burdensome disclosure requirements relating to pesticide usage and GM crops that compromise Plaintiffs' confidential commercial information," the complaint reads.

For now, it seems Hawaiian citizens can't say "aloha" to GMOs just yet - or at least without a court battle.

Comment: Hawaiian citizens wouldn't say 'Aloha' to GMO's period! Aloha has many translations, one of those translations is LOVE, another is the joyful (oha) sharing (alo) of life energy (ha) in presence. Alo also means light and ha means breath, when Hawaiians say Alo-ha in the islands it means sharing the breath of light and life with others.

Hawaiians would say A'ole to GMO's which means NO to GMO's! There is an ongoing battle in Hawaii to protect the land and natural resources for future generations, a battle that is taken very seriously.

Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono a well-known Hawaiian phrase was adopted as the motto of the state of Hawaiʻi. As such, it is commonly translated as "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness". The biotechnology industry is desperate to keep and maintain their open air experimentation projects, hoping the residents stay ignorant and uninformed, wishful thinking, on the part of biotechnology interests will not change the course that anti GMO activists are taking. Activists are sharing the breath of light and life with others, they are speaking out and sharing their knowledge with the world:

Opposition crops up to GMO foods in Hawaii

Hawaii is home to one of the world's greatest concentrations of GMO research fields by five of the largest biotechnology and chemical companies: Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences, Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer and BASF.

These transnational corporations prefer Hawaii for growing and testing GE crops because of its abundant sunshine, rainfall and year-round growing climate.GMO opponents say the companies also enjoy Hawaii's isolation, largely removed from the public eye.

Yet these companies, which have been in Hawaii for decades, are now facing increasing opposition from residents concerned about GMOs, the health and environmental impacts of pesticides and what they see as a lack of oversight and transparency.

Exposed: Monsanto's chemical war against indigenous Hawaiians

In the past 20 years, these chemical companies have performed over 5,000 open-field-test experiments of pesticide-resistant crops on an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 acres of Hawaiian land without any disclosure, making the place and its people a guinea pig for biotech engineering.

The presence of these corporations has propelled one of the largest movement mobilizations in Hawaii in decades. Similar to the environmental and land sovereignty protests in Canada and the continental United States, the movement is influenced by indigenous culture.