Sen Green wants ban on Roundup

[Obie]

When the ban goes into effect we can always use 2,4-D because it will still be legal !!

2,4-D was a component of Agent Orange and Round-up wasn't !!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-Dichlor...cetic_acid

[Richard Ha]

Prior to Round Up in 1974, lots of people used Paraquat--a skull and crossbones herbicide. Drinking it would kill you. Pets were being killed by irritated neighbors who laced meat with Paraquat. The pets died a horrible slow death. Ask the older folks they know. Lets use some common sense. Round Up is safe!

[unknownjulie]

safer... Lesser of evils.

[Richard Ha]

Yes Julie. Safer. I thought of that afterI sent it. It's always a matter of relative risk.
Thank You. I appreciate that!

[Futureresident]

How many people here (other than Richard Ha) have actual experience growing large quantities of edible plants? And how many people have grown (or attempted) them organically? There is a lot of talk about what "can't be done" without the use of herbicides and pesticides but how many of you have actually tried or informed yourselves about the full range of possibilities? I do not grow anywhere near as much food as Richard does because that is not my interest, however, I can say from personal experience that growing 15 acres of polyculture organic edible plants is not impossible nor really any more difficult than doing it inorganically in my experience. I have grown inorganically elsewhere so I know what both methods require. Right now doing it organically is working just fine and I can get a little more money for my products for that reason so its a win/win. I do understand why large monoculture farms use inorganic methods. Growing things monoculture is very unnatural for most types of plants and hence creates a lot of problems with pests and diseases. In the end both methods work with varying degrees of efficacy. One method however uses large quantities of unsustainable chemicals while the other uses only what exists naturally on my property. For me its obvious that not only do I make more, I spend less by doing it all organically so that is why I do and will continue to. I will mention on a side-note that growing things organically (and at least 90% sustainably) is more physically rigorous so if you're disabled, don't go that route. Of course, if you're disabled, you're probably not trying to be a farmer anyway!

[tada]

Maybe Green thinks the only thing that grows on Puna is bougainvillea and oleander like in Kona so gotta educate him.

[Beachboy]

Actually Josh Green needs to make a choice. Either be a doctor, or be a Senator. But don't be both ,cause you suck at it
!

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Support the 'Jack Herer Initiative'NOW!!

[steve1]

Sounds like there's a lot of hate on this thread. Too bad that anonymous people typing on a keyboard behave so differently than in person.

Once again someone posted a political thread on the Punatalk forum, rather than in the politics forum where it probably belongs. Maybe there should be a forum for self appointed experts and windbags because that seems to be pretty popular these days on Punaweb.

Back to the original posting: I seriously doubt that Josh Green is pandering to the "anti-GMO people" as "bystander" suggests. Green's concept of banning glyphosate containing products is probably political suicide so I would think he is basing his opposition on a combination of ethics, scientific observation, and a desire to care for the Aina and the creatures it supports.

Many people mistakenly believe and then parrot back the statement that roundup is totally safe without any scientific proof. Rather you are just repeating what the corporate marketers want you to believe.

Personally I have been a licensed pesticide applicator (both private and public) in 3 different states for over 20 years and one of the worst things I have witnessed about the use of Roundup and it's sister herbicides is how careless and indifferent it makes the majority of the population behave. Here in HPP you can regularly see a couple of guys who work for the hui driving around with a sprayer in tow, shooting pesticide at some of the weeds along the roadside. They seem to have no concept of wind direction or spray drift and frankly seem to be doing a pretty poor job of controlling noxious roadside vegetation. Some of this may be due to their spraying while it is raining and some to abject carelessness but the result is the same: wasting pesticides by spraying off-target and environmental pollution. It is clear that they do not follow the label as required by Federal Law because they spray in the rain, do not keep people and pets out of treated areas until the spray residue dries, and pay no attention to the spray drift they are creating.

Unfortunately the careless attitude about glyphosate spraying has led to many people publicly spraying pesticides in shorts and slippers, without gloves or eye protection and showing a general disregard for what they are doing. And unfortunately while many people mistakenly thing that glyphosate is safe as mother's milk they are terribly wrong. Just because it doesn't kill you today doesn't mean that it's safe and recent evidence suggests that it may cause cancers 20 or more years later.

Regardless, I do not believe Roundup should be banned but rather used responsibly by trained experts. Sort of like antibiotic use. I like trained doctors prescribing specific antibiotics for specific infections but am very afraid of farmers regularly dumping antibiotics into animal feed as a prophylactic measure. It's one of the reasons why we have so many virulent antibiotic resistant diseases these days.

[Opihikaobob]

Monsanto’s Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and Animal Health


http://www.responsibletechnology.org/pos...-diseases/[url][/url]

[Midnight Rambler]

quote:

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Originally posted by Obie

When the ban goes into effect we can always use 2,4-D because it will still be legal !!

2,4-D was a component of Agent Orange and Round-up wasn't !!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-Dichlor...cetic_acid

---

While 2,4-D is somewhat more toxic than glyphosate, it isn't the reason people got sick from Agent Orange. It's because the chemical synthesis used for 2,4,5-T, the other herbicide in the mixture (which is itself more toxic), produces dioxins as a byproduct, which are much more toxic in both short and long term effects.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxins_an..._compounds