Originally published March 10 2014
Maui citizens' group launches petition to suspend GMO production
by PF Louis
(NaturalNews) Hawaii may become the first whole state in the United States to totally ban genetically modified (GM) crop and seed production island by island. First, the island of Kauai, one of Hawaii's major islands lying northwest of the Big Island, passed a resolution that at least restricts biotech industries' invasion of the islands. It also restricts and closely monitors the herbicides and pesticides used, mostly by the biotech industries.
Then shortly after that, the Big Island of Hawaii went even further. The county council of Hawaii's main island passed a local ordinance banning all GMO production on the island while grandfathering the GM papaya fields that have been around for a couple of decades.
The Hawaii County Council voted six to three in favor of the ban, which was proposed by Margaret Wille, chairwoman of the Council's Agriculture Committee. Shortly after, Mayor Billy Kenoi signed bill 113 into law. This law will ensure that the Big Island remains protected from GMOs and excessive agricultural chemical corruption.
Mayor Billy Kenoi said the political haggling over the bill had some ugly moments. Comedienne/actress Roseanne Barr, who owns an organic macadamia farm in Hawaii, told the GM papaya farmers resisting the bill not to worry. People here are generous. They'll help you burn your GM papaya and plant something better.
Of course, part of Bill 113's passage was built on permitting the GM papaya fields to stay. So Mayor Billy Kenoi feels good about the bill's passage into law but thinks that it's time for healing, mostly from embittered farmers in favor of GMOs. Yes, unfortunately, there are several of those.
Now there is movement from grassroots activists on the island of Maui who have started a petition to put forth a bill that would create a "temporary moratorium initiative" on GM crops and seeds while an independent environmental impact study takes place to garner information on future, permanent resolutions.
This activist group has already noticed the rise in birth defects while noting an obvious increase in groundwater contamination from the excessive use of toxic pesticides and herbicides that the GMO industries favor.
The petition requires 8,500 registered voters' signatures by March 31 before it can be placed into next November's ballot.
Preparing for blowback from GMO industries and compromised mainstream "journalists"
Right now, the industry blowback has begun. In response to Kauai's recent passage of closely supervised chemical and GM crop restrictions, DuPont, Syngenta and Agrigenetics Inc., affiliated with Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical, and BASF, "the chemical company," are suing to block the law that puts limits on pesticide and GM crop use on Kauai.
The chemical companies claim that the Kauai law, which was passed by island leaders in November, is unconstitutional. Excuse me, since when is it unconstitutional for a group of citizens to decide what types of farming practices and chemicals should or shouldn't be used in their area? And since when did a corporation's rights supersede citizens' rights?
Since the Civil War, when corporations were granted "person-hood," allowing a corporation the right to claim all those civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights for individuals, which was probably the only reason that a large faction of early American colonists agreed to signing onto the Constitution in the first place.
Before that time, corporations were granted charters to perform only specific beneficial functions for specific periods of time. The charter could be taken back by the state if the corporation exceeded the charter's limits, which included no financial or other influences on any aspect of government.
So why is the toxic chemical industry's rush to completely dominate agriculture and patent seeds a matter of debate? Why should companies with proven records of harming people, livestock and the environment with toxic chemicals such as Agent Orange dominate this so-called debate?
Read The New York Times article below for an example of the mainstream media's support of GMO industry "science" while ignoring independent studies.
Sources for this article include:
NY Times article on the GMO "debate":
http://www.nytimes.com
http://in.reuters.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
http://science.naturalnews.com
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