GMO Pre-Legislative Update

SUBHEAD: This Hawaiian legislative session will be a busy one for GMO related bills.

By Brad Parsons on 10 January 2014 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2014/01/gmo-pre-legislative-update.html)

http://www.islandbreath.org/2014Year/01/140112kuibig.jpg
Image above: Detail of poster for demostration at State Capital Rotunda on january 15th,  2014 from 9am-3:30pm. Click to embiggen.

This is a GMO Pre-Legislative Update.  Wow, a lot is happening.  Let's first start with the Hawaii Legislative Session.

The Petition has already been shared with selected members of the Legislature in support of this issue and will be shared with the Governor and rest of the Legislature in the coming week.  As of now, we have about 2,720 signers from Hawaii and 3650 signers in total.  We hope throughout the coming Legislative Session you make your voices heard.

Most of the GMO Labeling and Pesticide bills from the 2013 Hawaii Legislative Session have been carried over to the 2014 Legislative Session.  In total it is about 16 bills.  In numeric order they are (you can click on the bill number to see more information about each):

HB174 RELATING TO FOOD LABELING.   
HB348 RELATING TO HEALTH.   
HB627 RELATING TO FOOD.   
HB631 RELATING TO FOOD.   
HB733 RELATING TO LABELING OF GE WHOLE FOOD.   
HB735 RELATING TO TARO SECURITY.   
HB1386 RELATING TO PESTICIDES.    

SB468 RELATING TO FOOD LABELING.   
SB590 RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.   
SB615 RELATING TO LABELING.   
SB648 RELATING TO HEALTH.   
SB649 RELATING TO HEALTH.   
SB934 RELATING TO HEALTH.   
SB1290 RELATING TO LABELING OF GE WHOLE FOOD.   
SB1329 RELATING TO LABELING.   
SB2037 RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.    

The above SB2037 is actually a newly introduced bill for the 2014 Session.  No other newly introduced 2014 bills on these issues are yet available online.  There is word in the past day that, "Sen. Malama Solomon and/or Senate Ag Committee Chair Nishihara are introducing a 'pre-emption' bill to try to take away any/all authority the counties may have to regulate the bio-tech industry/GMOs.

She said she gave it to the Atty General to review the language," but it has not been introduced and is not yet available to the public to see.  Reps and Senators can be emailed about this at:  reps@capitol.hawaii.gov, sens@capitol.hawaii.gov

There is also an important report on pesticides in Hawaii mandated by HB673 from the 2013 Legislative Session prepared by the Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau and it is: "State Reporting Requirements For General Use Pesticides"   http://lrbhawaii.info/reports/legrpts/lrb/2013/act105_slh13.pdf


Image above: Poster supporting Maui GMO-pesticide regulation.

Maui follows Kauai's lead:  Bill introduced to require disclosure of pesticides & GMOs, as well as buffer zones between GMO crops and schools, medical facilities, daycare facilities and similar operations. Its goal is "to inform the public and protect against direct, indirect and cumulative negative health impacts."

Maui needs your help: Please email Councilmember Riki Hokama
Tell him, as a visitor to Maui - you don't want to be poisoned on your vacation. Ask him to pass the GMO/Pesticide Bill!

Phone calls are even better: to Councilmember Riki Hokama: ask him to bring up Councilmember Elle Cochran's GMO/Pesticide bill.

Councilmember Riki Hokama
riki.hokama@mauicounty.us
phone: (808) 270-7768
fax: (808) 270-7848

SEE: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/1488522851373229/


READ: 
http://www.mauiweekly.com/page/content.detail/id/532072/Councilmember-Cochran-Introduces-Pesticide-and-GMO-Legislation.html

Protect Hawaii:  Help Fund GMO Ground Zero Community Organization for Policy Work in 2014 Legislative Session

My name is Nomi Carmona, co-founder and President of Hawaii environmental and political non-profit Babes Against Biotech and I am an unpaid community organizer in Hawaii focused on GMO regulation and pesticide policy. My mission is to stop global chemical and biotech corporations from poisoning the land and people of Hawaii, and I need your support for the 2014 Hawaii state lawmaking session.

Hawaii is GMO Ground Zero worldwide. We are the home to over 5,000 open-air Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) experiments, exposing residents to massive restricted pesticide use, environmental contamination and genetic experimentation.

We desperately need policy change to protect ourselves from GMO agrochemical intensive agriculture and Genetically Engineered (GE) seed production by the largest chemical companies in the world, occurring year round.

The GE seeds developed in Hawaii are exported, genetically contaminating food crops worldwide, being engineered for experimental herbicide resistance and producing pesticides. Our air, land, water and health is being heavily genetically and chemically contaminated and we are considered the endangered species capital of the world.

The legislative session will release hundreds of bills and each bill has 2-8+ hearings and full votes before the House and Senate.

Last year I was in the Capitol almost every weekday testifying and reporting, working overnight, marched through rainstorms across the state of Hawaii and have camped numerous times overnight in lines to testify for hearings when necessary. Everywhere there is a GMO lobbyist or interest at stake, I want to be there, defending and progressing community demands for safe, non-toxic environments.

We have no connection with Nomi Carmona, but we believe she will be needed and indispensable at ground zero in the Legislature this Session. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/protect-hawaii-fund-gmo-ground-zero-community-organization-for-policy-change

Nomi has a great breakdown of GMO financial contributions to the Hawaii Legislators under the 'Gallery' tab at the above link:  2013 Hawaii State Senate & House GMO Campaign Fund Analysis

News Items
  1. Maine recently became the second state to enact a GE labeling law. Read more: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/2827/food-movements-political-power-growing
  2. Very Informative Jan. 9th LiveStream by Doug of Presentation Recorded at  http://new.livestream.com/accounts/3132312/events/2680918Roundup (aka the New DDT) and GMO Foods
    A Threat to Our Daily Diet

    Speakers:
    Dr. Stephanie Seneff, Senior research scientist, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
    Dr. Hector Valenzuela, Extension crop specialist, UH CTAHR
  3.  "GMO's: Engineering an Environmental Disaster" SoundCloud.com
    Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff discusses how genetically engineered crops harm the environment by increasing pesticide use. 
    https://soundcloud.com/earthjustice-down2earth/gmos-environmental-disaster

     
  4. "GMO Labeling and the 'Natural' Food Fight: Treacherous Terrain in 2014"   http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_28998.cfm
  5. "Battle over GMO Labeling Rumbling in U.S."
    http://news.yahoo.com/battle-over-gmo-labeling-rumbling-us-020212420.html

     
  6. "Industry Proposal Would Bar GE Food Labels"
    http://www.ewg.org/release/industry-proposal-would-bar-ge-food-labels

     
  7. "Food Industry to fire preemptive GMO Strike" 
    http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/gmo-labeling-bill-101853.html

     
  8. "Neonicotinoid Pesticides not just a Threat to Bees; Humans also at Risk"   http://www.naturalnews.com/043399_neonicotinoid_pesticides_bees_developmental_neurotoxicity.html
  9. Pictoral:  "King Dayne Aipoalani's Story May Convince You That Hawaii Belongs To The Hawaiians"
    http://www.businessinsider.com/hawaiian-sovereignty-movement-atooi-kingdom-2014-1  

That's it for now.  Strap yourselves in, it's gonna be a 'rough and tumble' Legislative Session.

.

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Add to that:

HB1611
Measure Title: RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF PESTICIDES.
Description: Appropriates funds for pesticide regulation.
Package: Kauai Council
Introducer(s): SOUKI (Introduced by request of another party)
Sort by Date 1/10/2014 H Prefiled

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