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He signed the gmo bill.
Billy has reminded me many times of his propensity to tow the party line. There are many folks in the Ag industry who have been Billy supporters. I would have put money on a Veto.
Billy surprised me. Good for him.
Right on Mayor Billy.
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It's a PR win for him and since he's a lawyer he knows it's unenforceable so he doesn't piss off the other side either
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This an excerpt of what he said.
"With my approval of this bill, our administration will launch a year of research and data collection to investigate factual claims and to seek out new directions that farming in our community should take. This work will include an expanded database detailing the locations of both organic and conventional farms, the crops that are grown, more accurate estimates of the revenue earned from these enterprises, and the challenges our farmers face in meeting food safety and organic certification requirements. We will work with our farmers and our ranchers to carefully monitor the impacts of this bill over the next year to separate speculation and guesswork from the facts."
There is no funding for this.Maybe they will have to raise the GET or better yet, let's tax organic food !
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Sigh. I was hoping Billy would stand up and stop this stupidity.
Now I have to worry about another set of nutbugs trying to legislate their faith and beliefs.
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Disregarding the lack of funding issue for the moment, I am curious to know who will actually do the "year of research and data collection to investigate factual claims and to seek out new directions that farming in our community should take". The phrase "our administration" makes me very nervous because it implies politicians and administrators do the research rather than independent researchers with a background in the field and relevant expertise.
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Haiku to Obie;
I like GMO
Pesticide is good for me
Snap Crackle Pop Fizz.......
[8D]Mahalo Billy and Council!
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It is comforting to know that non-GMO foods never use pesticides. If this is true then wouldn't it make just as much sense to ban pesticides on the Big Island?
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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Good point Rob, it would make more sense to ban pesticides.
Now that would be a show.
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quote:
...an expanded database detailing the locations of both organic
and conventional farms, the crops that are grown, more accurate estimates of the
revenue earned from these enterprises...
Maybe my tinfoil hat is on too tight this morning, but for some reason I don't think this is about "food".
Monsanto can lobby themselves a Federal override and/or have their lawyers crush the County under truckloads of paperwork: Bill 113 is dead whenever they get around to it.
In the meantime, County has an extra layer of legislation to use against marijuana farmers: all their crops are GMO, and usually grown outdoors....
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"...implies politicians and administrators do the research rather than independent researchers with a background in the field and relevant expertise."
Your concerns seem justified. After passage of this bill, it's an unwarranted assumption that the council, administration or, for that matter, some of the populace understand anything of "science" much less being appreciative of science-based research. You could characterize this anti-GMO bill as our local version of climate change denialism. We have our local James Inhofes who are going to deny the science behind the food safety of GMOs right to the bitter end. Now the question is how much money will it cost the county to defend its decisions?
