Willie withdraws bill proposing ban on RoundUp

[rainyjim]

In a stunning move, after hearing expert testimony on the subject Willie later withdraws bill in the face of little/no support.

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/loc...dup-yanked

[leilanidude]

From the article:

"Wille advocated an organic alternative herbicide known as Avenger, which is based on citrus oil. She said the state Department of Transportation is testing the formula on roads on Maui.

Avenger costs $68 a gallon, compared to glyphosate-based Roundup’s $17.60 per gallon, and it requires 21.3 ounces per gallon of water to spray, compared to 2.6 ounces for Roundup, said Parks and Recreation Director Clayton Honma. He said the county is conducting a pilot program at Queen Liliuokalani Gardens in Hilo.

“Cost-wise, it’s really expensive to run the Avenger,” Honma said.

Public Works Director Warren Lee estimated banning Roundup would add $2 million to $5 million to his annual budget for keeping roadways and flood channels clear of weeds. Some 60 to 65 percent of maintenance on more than 1,000 miles of roadside is done with mowers, another 10 percent manually and 25 to 30 percent with herbicides, he said."
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How much time has she wasted on this already?

[kalakoa]

How much time has she wasted on this already?

Nothing compared to the usual process wherein government has to be sued for not following its own rules.

As an example, look no further than the pCard situation: whatever money may have been spent "inappropriately" is now pocket change compared to the cost of "investigation" and "additional rulemaking" (which, as it happens, the Council has "shelved" for now).

[Chunkster]

While I give Wille some credit for reading the handwriting on the wall and withdrawing the bill, it should never have been introduced in the first place. We are still paying legal bills for appealing the judicial revocation of her GMO bill, and we may be paying for years to come.

[pahoated]

It's important because it finally brought some financial accounting to this emo-organic blind devotion. Organic farming is enormously wasteful, labor intensive and more expensive due to the accepted "organic" herbicides, many of which are known to be many times more toxic than Roundup. The county could have decided to increase hiring of parks maintenance personnel to manually remove and transport noxious vegetation. Somebody should talk to the plants and tell them to stop growing back so fast. No cost solution.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

[kalakoa]

Organic farming is enormously wasteful, labor intensive and more expensive

Organic weed control is therefore a perfect fit for the County Jobs Program.