Hooser Survey Report

SUBHEAD: From Kekaha to Haena, 21,000 voters asked their opinion in issues facing Kauai.

By Gary Hooser on 24 June 2016 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2016/06/hooser-survey-report.html)


Image above: Infrastructure and growth problems on Kauai. Jammed up traffic on the Kuhio Highway in Kapaa, is bumper to bumper and the only way in town. From (http://dakinetalk.blogspot.com/2015/02/imagine-james-kimo-rosen-solution-to.html).

From Haena to Kekaha, over 21,000 registered voters on Kauai were recently sent out a comprehensive “Important Kauai Issues Survey” and the results are fascinating.

Because there are so many issues and so many diverse people and opinion in our community I decided to reach out in a comprehensive effort to determine what the average Kauai resident actually feels and thinks about some of the important issues of the day.

I wanted to offer all Kauai registered voters from all parts of the community an equal opportunity to offer their thoughts and concerns.  The survey allowed anonymity providing all with the opportunity to speak freely and frankly about issues important to them.

So during the month of May I mailed a single page of questions directly to over 21,000 registered voter households on Kauai, representing every single voting household in our community.  Due to the scale of the effort a very small number of households reported not receiving a survey.  A limited limited on-line version was also offered for a very short period.

Nearly 1,000 registered voters responded to the direct mail effort yielding a 4.5% response rate.  Respondents were required to pay their own return postage and were allowed to be anonymous.  Responses came in from every single community from the far west to the far north.

The survey questions include topics dealing with growth, climate change, food sustainability, park maintenance, pesticide regulation, the dairy proposed on Kauai’s south shore, B&B regulations, farm tours, taxes, drug treatment and affordable housing.

Some of the key “takeaways”:

• 91% of Kauai residents favor limitations on growth tied to infrastructure. 

• 58% favor allowing B&B’s on all parts of the island. 

• 74% believe the visitor industry is not paying its fair share. 

• 91% favor allowing small farms to conduct “farm tours” to supplement income. 

• 81% of respondents support the increased regulation of pesticides. 

• 75% are opposed to the dairy proposed for Kauai’s south side.

Other questions involving parks maintenance, climate change, food self sufficiency and traffic are also included.

Complete survey detail and a tabulation of the results is available at (http://garyhooser.com/kauai-issue-survey/) and the raw data is available for review by any student group or community organization that would like to conduct further analysis.

The survey was paid for by my campaign organization Friends of Gary Hooser. I am available and would love to speak with any group who wish to delve deeper into the issues raised and/or develop policy initiatives reflecting the community consensus expressed by the survey.

• Gary Hooser is a longtime member of the Kauai County Council and is supported in his bid for reelection by IslandBreath.org
.

Hooser votes "NO" on spying

SUBHEAD: Kauai County Council votes 5-1 for Federal aid to battle "Domestic Terrorism' - like cutting down GMO plants.

By Andy Parx on 20 November 2013 for Parx News Network -
(http://parxnewsdaily.blogspot.com/2013/11/hooser-votes-no-to-spying-software.html)


Image above: One of several GMO papaya trees cut down on the Big Island in 2011. From (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/20/genetically-modified-papayas-attacked_n_932152.html).

Councilmember Gary Hooser was the only one to vote against allowing the KPD to accept computer software designed to allow the sharing of intelligence regarding "domestic terrorism,".

The measure passed the Kaua`i County Council this morning (Wednesday 11/20) by a 5-1 vote.

According to a memorandum from KPD chief Darryl Perry the action allows local police to "accept and utilize CrimeNtel, a Windows based software, through the Kaua’i Police Department’s (KPD) collaboration with the Hawai`i State Civil Defense Division of the Department of Defense, for law enforcement purposes and to bring KPD in compliance with the 28 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 23."

During discussion, members of KPD said hypothetically that one uses of the software could be to track and surveil a suspect in the alleged multiple incidents of vandalism of genetically modified (GM) papaya trees on Hawai`i Island over the past few years.

The Hawai`i Island County Council voted yesterday to ban genetically modified organisms (GMO) but exempted papayas.

According to an attached explanatory sheet also sent to the council by Perry, the federal regulation "governs interjurisdictional and multijurisdictional criminal intelligence systems that are operated by or on behalf of state and local law enforcement agencies and that are funded with certain federal funds."

Hooser indicated he was troubled about the trend toward the sacrificing of people's rights and freedoms in exchange for supposed increased security.

According to Perry's memo "due to its assignment to the Criminal Intelligence Unit, KPD is precluded from publically (sic) releasing any detailed information about the new software."

GM papaya trees have been cut down on Hawai`i Island and representatives from KPD said, under questioning by Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura, that if the Hawai`i Island Police Department (HiPD) told them there was a suspect who was living on Kaua`i they would be able to use the software to surveil the suspect and share the information with HiPD regarding the acts of what they termed "domestic terrorism."

.

Bill 2491 Veto Overide Passes

SOURCE: Ken Taylor (taylork021@hawaii.rr.com)
SUBHEAD: Veto override of Bil 2491 will limit pesticide use and GMO crops on Kauai.

By Chris D'Angelo on 16 November 2013 for Reuters -
(http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/17/usa-hawaii-gmcrops-idUSL2N0J200O20131117)


Image above: Supporters of Kauai County Council Bill 2491, calling themselves Babes Against Biotech, at historic Kauai County Building. From (https://www.facebook.com/BabesAgainstBiotech?ref=ts&fref=ts&_ft_=fbid.437575679623052).

[Sources note: Reuters picked up Chris' TGI story.  That is how big this is.  Imagine a world not controlled by corporations :)  And if they go to court it will be a giant PR trap for them.... ] 

The governing body on the Hawaiian island of Kauai voted on Saturday to override their mayor's veto of a bill that seeks to reign in widespread pesticide use and the testing of new genetically modified crops.

The Kauai County Council's 5-2 vote means agricultural companies will be unable to plant crops inside buffer zones created around schools, homes and hospitals. New limits will be placed on pesticide use and companies must disclose where they will plant test crops.

The vote to override Kauai County Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.'s veto caps months of protests by islanders and mainland U.S. groups opposed to extensive testing of crops on Kauai, a largely rural island that has a tropical climate considered ideal for trying out new biotech crops. The council needed five votes to cancel the veto.

The spread of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed has triggered a global dispute with critics claiming GMOs require more use of pesticides and cause environmental damage and health issues for people and animals.

Companies opposed to the measure have said biotech crops are essential in boosting global food production and in improving environmental sustainability. They said pesticides already are well regulated by state and federal agencies.

Among the firms that have tested biotech crops on Hawaii's "Garden Isle," as Kauai is known, are DuPont, Syngenta AG, and Dow AgroSciences, a division of Dow Chemical Co.

Passage of the measure in Kauai was hailed by California-based Pesticide Action Network North America.

"The victory not only creates critical new laws but also serves as a signal to other communities across the United States that they can prevail over powerful corporations," Paul Towers, the group's organizing and media director, said in a statement.

Concerns about pesticide use on the island have been mounting in recent years and some people contend health problems, including cases of cancer, are tied to the farm chemicals on the experimental crop fields.

Carvalho said the bill is vulnerable to legal challenge and he proposed ordering a study on health and environmental impacts of pesticides on the island.

"Of course we will honor the council's decision and I will continue to work with my departments to determine how we will implement this new law," the mayor said after the vote. He said the law would take effect in nine months.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: The Fix is In 11/16/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Mason Chock chosen for Council 11/15/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Hooser pulls rabbit from hat 11/15/13

.

Mason Chock chosen for Council

SOURCE: Brad Parsons (mauibrad@hotmail.com)
SUBHEAD: By 4-2 the Kauai Council names Chock to vacant seat ahead of veto override vote.

[IB Publisher's note: Tomorrow, Saturday, November 16th 2013 at 11:00am the Kauai County Council will vote on the GMO-Pesticide regulation bill. A truly historic moment on Kauai where the people finally pushed back on the plantation owners... in this case the big-Ag chemical GMO companies poisoning our ohana and aina.]

By Rosemarie Bernardo on 15 November 2013 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2013/11/mason-chock-chosen-for-council.html)


Image above: Mason Chock selected for Kauai County Council. From (http://kupuae.com/about/mason-chock/mason-chock/).

The Kauai County Council today picked Mason Chock in a 4-2 vote to fill the seat vacated by former Vice Chairwoman Nadine Nakamura.

In today's special Council meeting, Chock and KipuKai Kualii were nominated from among 18 applicants.

Council Chairman Jay Furfaro, councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura and councilmen Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum voted for Chock while Councilmen Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa voted for Kualii, who served as a council member from April 2011 to December 2012.

A new council member was selected to fill the seat vacated by Nakamura who resigned October 31st to serve as managing director of the Kauai County under the Mayor/.

The decision to name Chock comes a day after the Council delayed action on a controversial pesticide measure Thursday afternoon, failing to line up enough votes to override Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.'s veto.

The Council is scheduled to reconvene Saturday to again consider an override.

---

Chock Picked for Council--Fufaro swings vote

By Joan Conrow on 15 November 2013 for Kauai Eclectic - 
(http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2013/11/mason-chock-picked-for-kauai-council.html)

Mason Chock is the newest member of the Kauai County Council. He will finish out the term of Nadine Nakamura, who left to work as the mayor's top aide.

Mason will be sworn in this afternoon, and then immediately take the hot seat tomorrow morning, when the Council will again take up the issue of the mayor's veto of Bill 2491. Mason has indicated he will vote for an override, giving the Council the five-member majority it was lacking yesterday.

The vote was headed toward a deadlock between Mason and former Councilman KipuKai Kualii, who came in eighth in the last election. Councilmembers JoAnn Yukimura, Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum favored Mason, while Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa wanted KipuKai.

A tie would have left the decision up to Mayor Bernard Carvalho, which prompted Council Chair Jay Furfaro to pick Mason.

“I want to make sure the decision is made at this table,” Jay said. “I had a good relationship with KipuKai...but I can't end today's session with a 3-3 deadlock with the vote going to the mayor.”

Though casting his vote for Mason, Jay promised he would help KipuKai in the next election.

Mason is the president of Kupu A'e, Kauai Team Challenge, and the former director of Leadership Kauai.

He's a really neat guy. I had the pleasure of doing a story on him a few years back, and thought I'd share it with you here:

Mason Chock never expected he’d be forced into a career change at age 30.

But when the helicopter he was riding in crashed into the side of Waialeale during a search and rescue mission five years ago, Chock’s days as a firefighter were over.

He just didn’t realize it at the time. Chock, accustomed to being super fit as a member of the fire department’s rescue team, was certain he’d bounce right back from his injuries.

He didn’t. Instead, the crash left him with three crushed vertebrate, chronic pain, and serious depression as Chock faced a lifetime of physical limitation and the tough question: now what?

“It was a heartbreak for me because I fully intended to stay a fireman,” says Chock, who retired in 2005 after 11 years with the fire department. “It was a big blow. It was hard coming to terms with this is where you are now, and this is where you’re going to be.

“But it was a wake up call, too, a whole process of transition,” he adds. “There are no accidents, only lessons to learn. If we just realize they’re all lessons, we can move forward.”

For Chock, that meant figuring out a way “to find beauty and fulfillment in other things,” and he had an inkling it involved helping others.

While boarding at Kamehameha School — a tradition passed down from his parents and now being carried out by the eldest of his own two sons— Chock found he enjoyed interacting with people and went on to earn a business degree at the University of Hawaii, planning to become an entrepreneur.

Instead, he joined the fire department, where he discovered “how rewarding it is to serve the community,” and began volunteering with various culturally-based youth education programs, including Waipa and Kanuikapono.

After his accident, Jessica Higa approached him about creating the Kauai Team Challenge, a program that teaches confidence- and team-building skills through the use of a ropes course. It employed some of the same skills Chock had learned as a rescue worker, so he helped Higa set up a course at Waipa and he took a group of orphans from the Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center through it.

“That’s where I really got the interaction with the children,” he says. “That really, really intrigued me. I could see the transformation in them right in front of me. It was a very satisfying and rewarding experience.”

While continuing to work with Kauai Team Challenge, Chock also began running a federally funded pilot program that provides mentoring for children of prisoners. Leadership Kauai tapped Chock to run its new youth program, Pi`ina Hoku, which places the same emphasis on values, leadership skills and service as its adult program.
Chock was first exposed to the program when its adult members came through his ropes course. “I was really attracted to Leadership Kauai,” he says. “I was intrigued by the diversity, the principles of leadership, the focus on values and also the cultural aspects. You really get an understanding of why people view things the way they do.”

Chock, who was born and mostly reared on Kauai, says kids also need “more role models,” and he’s aware that he is one. “They look at me and they see themselves. They know that I’ve gone through the same things they have. I don’t give them any excuses. I don’t baby the kids in my programs. I teach them they’ve got responsibilities, too.”

Besides his work with youth, Chock has an active real estate license and is co-owner of a promotional products company. He also raises Hawaiian herbs for medicinal use and loves to dive and get in the water whenever he can.

.

Hooser pulls rabbit from hat

SUBHEAD: Council Member Gary Hooser saved the day by calling for a vote to 'recess' the meeting until this Saturday.

By Shannon Rudolph on 15 November 2013 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2013/11/hooser-pulls-rabbit-from-hat.html)


Image above: Kauai Councilman Gary Hooser pulls rabbit out of hat to give Bill 2491 a chance. Mashup by Juan Wilson.

Yesterday was the vote of  the Kauai County Council for the veto override of GMO-Pesticide Bill 2491.

Council Members Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa voted "NO" on the Kauai mayor Bernard Carvalho's veto, effectively killing the bill -

BUT... Council Member Gary Hooser saved the day by calling for a vote to 'recess' the meeting until this Saturday.

Tomorrow, the council will try to pick a new council member to replace the councilwoman Nadine Nakamura who resigned as of  October 31st to join the mayor's staff.

If a new member can be agreed to tomorrow, the vote to override the veto may happen as soon as Saturday November 16th, at 11am.

You should be able to watch online from the Kaua'i county Council website: http://www.kauai.gov/Government/WebcastMeetings/tabid/400/Default.aspx

Cross your fingers they can pick a new council member by tomorrow - who will vote to override the mayor's veto. [IB Publisher's note:  In the last election in November 2012 it was Kipukai Kualii who was the runner-up for the seventh County Council seat. He would be one logical candidate and would likely vote for Bill 2491].

---

Big Island GMO Bill
By Shannon Rudolph on 15 November 2013 for Island Breath - 

Don't Forget the Hawaii County Council Meeting on Tuesday, November 19th at 9am ~
Support a "Yes" vote on GMO Bill 113 - Your Presence Needed!
 J. Yoshimoto has withdrawn his amendments to the bill.  (with your help!)

Have You Sent Testimony?
 BY 11/18 ~ TO:  counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us, bford@co.hawaii.hi.us, zkern@co.hawaii.hi.us, donishi@co.hawaii.hi.us, dkanuha@co.hawaii.hi.us, keoff@co.hawaii.hi.us, gilagan@co.hawaii.hi.us, vpoindexter@co.hawaii.hi.us, mwille@co.hawaii.hi.us, jyoshimoto@co.hawaii.hi.us

WHAT:
Final Vote on Bill 113 to restrict GMO crops on Big Island

WHEN:
Tuesday, November 19th at 9am

WHERE:
West Hawaii Civic Center
74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway
Kailua-Kona, HI
Also at Satellite Video Sites
.

GMO seed fight on Kauai

SUBHEAD: A battle has erupted in Kauai between residents concerned about health and companies developing GMO seeds.

By Megan Thompson on 20 October 2013 for PBS Newshour-
(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec13/hawaiigmo_10-20.html)

[IB Publisher's note: This is the transcript from PBS Newshour broadcast on Kauai and GMOs. Video of segment is below.]


Image above: Aerial view of Waimea, Kauai, Note fields and buildings of Dow Pioneer experimental seed operations on east (left) side of Waimea River. On right is the town of Waimea that is downwind and at a lower elevation than the GMO fields that are frequently sprayed with pesticides. From original aricle.

MEGAN THOMPSON: The Hawaiian island of Kauai is known as the garden isle, luring hundreds of thousands of tourists to its lush northern shores. But fewer make it down to the drier southwest side, home to many native Hawaiians, who’ve lived here for generations…and where farming has always been a way of life.

Today these fields are home to large biotech companies developing Hawaii’s biggest agricultural product: seeds. Genetically modified seeds, mostly corn, to be shipped back and grown on the mainland.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Those fields behind me belong to Pioneer, one of the big seed companies here in Kauai. The prevailing winds here blow out of the northeast. And the residents here say that when those winds blow, they bring dust and pesticides from these fields down into their neighborhoods and homes.

And some believe that’s making their children sick.

RANDI-LI DICKINSON: In 2007 I gave birth to my son. And within a day we realized he was seizing. And we found that his brain had hemorrhaged and he lost the whole, entire right frontal lobe.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Six-year-old Nakana Dickinson still has frequent seizures, according to his mother, Randy-Li. After consulting with a pediatric neurologist and blood specialist, she now wonders if all of her son’s problems were caused by the location of their home, in the valley just below the fields.

RANDY-LI DICKINSON: And the only thing I could think of is I lived here this whole time I'm pregnant. And I'm getting this drift of dust constantly with pesticides.

MEGAN THOMPSON: You don't know for sure what the cause was of your son's illness.

RANDI-LI DICKINSON: No. And I-- and that's scary to me. And I can’t know for sure because they’re not disclosing anything to us.

MEGAN THOMPSON: A battle has erupted here in Kauai over the seed farms. More than 150 residents have sued Pioneer. Though Pioneer declined to comment on the litigation, the families allege that dust and pesticides contaminated their homes. They’re also seeking damages for lost property value.

This county council hearing is called to order.

MEGAN THOMPSON: And packed county council hearings in support of a bill, passed just this week, imposing new rules on the seed growers. It creates buffer zones around the fields and forces the companies to disclose what pesticides they're using…when they're spraying… and how much.

Several local doctors had expressed support for the legislation, citing serious health concerns.

RICK GODING: There’s a strong anecdotal evidence that there’s a statistically significant difference in the incidence of cancer, asthma and birth defects.

MEGAN THOMPSON: One pediatrician wrote in an email that he had observed rare heart defects in babies at a rate 10 times the national average. But says years of epidemiological research would be needed to establish the cause.

GARY HOOSER: It's really quite simple. Tell us what you're spraying, what you're growing, and then let us do a study to determine whether people really are getting sick.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Local politician Gary Hooser introduced the bill. He got involved in 2008 after a noxious odor sent several children and a teacher at a school next to one of the fields to the emergency room, complaining of dizziness and nausea.

GARY HOOSER: This is serious, serious stuff that deserves our attention and deserves to be dealt with now.

MEGAN THOMPSON: the seed companies and their employees came out in force to fight the bill.

KU’UHAU GARZA: I want people to know that we are good people and we do the right thing.

MEGAN THOMPSON: the companies said they follow government guidelines on pesticide spraying, and that revealing their farming practices could make them less competitive. What’s more, as some of the largest employers on the west side, they said the bill’s other requirements could threaten their operations and the hundreds of jobs they provide.

20
CARMELITA HAUMEA (a GMO seed compnay employee): Most people on the west side is employed by the seed companies. We all live as a community, you know.

MEGAN THOMPSON: The four biotech companies in Kauai own or lease more than 12,000 acres – close to 20 percent of the island’s usable farmland. Their fields bump up against the nearby towns.

Seeds are big business in the state of Hawaii, valued more than $240 million dollars a year; more than triple the second-largest commodity, sugar. Mark Phillipson works for Syngenta, and is president of Hawaii’s seed trade group, which represents Syngenta, BASF, Dow and Pioneer, a subsidiary of DuPont.

MARK PHILLIPSON, HAWAII CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION: The reason that we're here-- is the weather. It's-- there's no winter. We're here-- 365 days a year. So, can get three crops a year. Whereas, if we did this type of research or production on the mainland, we would get one crop-- per year. So, something that would take-- ten-to-12 years to develop, we can do here in three-to-four years.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Phillipson says seed companies have developed better and stronger plants, genetically modified to withstand drought and pests.

Today almost 90% of the corn grown in the United States is genetically modified…and according to one industry study, since 1996, the technology has brought an economic benefit of more than 24 billion dollars to America’s farmers.

KATHY HASKINS: This is a row of conventionally-bred line of corn.  And you can see that there’s a lot of damage here to the ear. That’s all from ear worm. This is the same line – same exact line of corn, but it’s got our “Agrisure Viptera” traits in it and you can see that there’s ear damage at all to this ear. It’s beautiful.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Even though the seed companies are only growing crops for research purposes, they still use conventional farming methods. That includes the application of several so-called “restricted use pesticides” - chemicals regulated by the E.P.A. that can only be handled by people with a special license.

MARK PHILLIPSON: We follow all the federal and state guidelines on pesticide use, and those guidelines are very strict and they're-- monitored.

MARK PHILLIPSON: We are very careful in how we apply the pesticides. We, you know-- measure wind direction, wind speed. It's-- not of any advantage for us to have things drift out anywhere.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Because of a new state registry on pesticide sales, and the lawsuit against Pioneer, some information on what’s being sprayed has started to come out. But the seed companies, which invest billions of dollars in research and development, had been largely reluctant to share more specifics.

GARY HOOSER: On the general use pesticides that you use on an annual basis, can any – are any of you willing to disclose that amount? So I’ll take the silence as a no.

MEGAN THOMPSON: The people in community here have been asking for a few years now to know what pesticides are being sprayed by the seed companies here. How much, when, where. Why has that information not been disclosed?

MARK PHILLIPSON: The reason is not so much there's trade secrets, but it's more of competitiveness.

Fast disclosure of those pesticide use will probably tell me the ingredients that you're using that I might not be using. We each represent a unique company that has a product in a competitive marketplace.

MEGAN THOMPSON: There are a lot of people in this community who say they’re getting sick. And they think it might be the pesticides. What do you say to that?

MARK PHILLIPSON: Probably the first-- people in the community that would get sick would be our workers. And there's no indication of that.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Phillipson also points to a recent study by the Hawaii Department of Health showing cancer rates are no higher in Kauai than in other parts of the state…and other tests showing air and water samples to be safe.

But critics accuse the companies of not following spraying guidelines closely enough. Attorneys in the Pioneer lawsuit say this video they shot shows pesticides blowing off a field near town. And even though many of the pesticides are the same ones used by farmers in the Midwest for example, critics point out they’re being applied during more months of the year here.

RICK GODING: How can you tell me I don’t have a right to know what they’re spraying?

MEGAN THOMPSON: And that’s why some residents including local doctors like Rick Goding believe more research is needed.

RICK GODING: The thing about the physicians is, we want to be very careful. And I think some of them are afraid to say anything because they’re afraid to be perceived to be saying, “They’re spraying, and therefore this is happening.” I’m not saying that. I don’t know any physicians that are saying that.

What we are saying is, they are spraying. And we have some problems. Can we find out more about what they’re spraying and can we look at the possibility as to whether it’s got an effect on some of the significant health problems we have in the community.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Even though that bill requiring the seed companies to create buffer zones and disclose their spraying was passed this week … at least one seed company said it’s exploring legal options to block the legislation. So it could be a long time before these residents get all the information that they’re looking for.


Video above:PBS Newshour segment on Kauai and GMO seed companies.

.

No back pedaling on 2491

SUBHEAD: Our Council is considering Bill 2491 precisely because the state has failed us time and time again.

By Jeri DiPietro on 12 October 2013 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2013/10/no-back-pedaling-on-2491.html)


Image above: Last month the Mana March brought thousands to the Kauai's Old County Building to support Bill 2491regulating Pesticide/GMO operations. From (http://www.popularresistance.org/thousands-of-kauai-residents-take-to-the-streets/).

A diverse cross-section of the Kauai community is preparing to convince the Kauai County Council to vote on Tuesday, October 15 on Bill 2491, the “Right to Know” bill.

Increased efforts and island-wide community actions will be launched by citizen groups in response to remarks made on Tuesday, October 8, by Mayor Bernard Carvalho.  In his remarks, the Mayor showed lack of knowledge of basic tenets of Bill 2491.  He asked the Council to defer a vote on the Bill, to give him more time to learn about the bill and work with the state Department of Agriculture for solutions.

Kauai families greeted the Mayor’s request with outrage and skepticism, pointing to previous testimonies by the state Department of Agriculture and other state employees that described the agency’s inability to enforce existing state pesticide regulations.

"Our Council is considering Bill 2491 on Kauai precisely because the state has failed us time and time again on the issue of pesticides,” said Bryce Boeder from west Kauai.

A recent article in Hawaii’sCivil Beat reported:

The state Department of Agriculture has only one employee assigned to review pesticide inspection reports and follow up on possible violations. And she says she hasn't gotten around to reviewing most reports in several years so there's been little if any action against pesticide misuse.  Since 2009, the department has suffered budget cuts that have stretched its pesticide oversight to the limit, its director says.

[T]he environmental health specialist in the agriculture department's pesticides branch . . . told Civil Beat last week she's been able to review only a handful of reports in the past few years.  She finished just seven of 72 investigations into possible violations on Kauai alone for 2011 and 2012.
(http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/10/08/20066-does-hawaiis-failure-to-enforce-pesticide-use-justify-kauais-action/)

The Mayor's reliance on enhanced state action grew even more implausible following Lieutenant Governor Shan Tsutsui's announcement on Friday of a hiring freeze on state departments.


Any Council Deferral will be seen as back-pedaling
Many Council Members themselves have pointed to the State’s failure to protect Kauai residents in prior Council meetings re: Bill 2491.  After the Committee meeting on September 8, 2013, Civil Beat reported:

The state of Hawaii has effectively foresaken its responsibility to ensure that biotech companies are not risking public and environmental health, several members of the Kauai County Council said Monday, so it was up to the county to pick up the slack.

Basically, the state has done a bad job of enforcing landmark federal environmental laws, according to the councilmembers who spoke at a hearing on a bill before the council’s Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee that would increase regulation of genetically altered crops and pesticides.

(http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/09/09/19862-kauais-pesticide-and-gmo-bill-could-cost-millions/)

This has many Kaua’i residents asking, “Why are we now talking AGAIN about the state stepping in to save us?”  Some believe it is another stall tactic encouraged by the lobbying organization Hawaii Crop Improvement Association (HCIA), whose members are the biotech companies which would be regulated under the Bill.

Elijah Frank, a local firefighter, for example, stated,

“It’s important that the public knows about the attempts by the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, and supported by the Department of Agriculture, to take away the rights of counties to protect the health and safety of their people.  Senate Bill 727, introduced last session, would have done just that. If passed, that law would have eliminated county authority to pass an ordinance like 2491. It was only stopped because the public caught on after it had already passed out of several committees.”

Frank, and the Kauai based group Ohana O’ Kauai, has been working on raising public awareness about Bill 2491 and was instrumental in defeating SB727.  But they expect the fight to continue;

“The overall agenda by the HCIA is to influence state decision-making, and cut out local government. And both the Department of Agriculture and the its Director, Russell Kokubun, have consistently supported HCIA and this type of legislation."

Frank believes it is highly questionable for the Council to set back the discussion to where it was months ago;

"The Council has already had in-depth correspondence with the departments of ag and health, and it was clear that these state agencies are not going to help Kauai's residents in any immediate or meaningful way."

West Kauai Residents Outraged
Other public response to a deferral has been strong and negative, especially from the people who would most benefit from the Bill’s provisions for disclosure and buffer zones.

Klayton Kubo, a long time Waimea resident who has been calling attention to the effects of pesticide and dust pollution on his neighborhood since at least 2000, stated;

 “It’s like coming full circle around.  After getting no help from the state, we finally thought the County would step up. Now, they are pointing to the state again?  For me, the question is, ‘WHO IS GOING TO PROTECT US?’  This is about my family, my neighbors, my neighbors’ kids, and all of Kaua’i.  Our elected officials should really think hard about this. Come the election next year, the people are going to remember.”

Nate Dickinson of Waimea said,

"My neighbors and I have been living with this for years. After being ignored by the seed companies, we are so close to finally getting some protections from our County government.  And now the Mayor and Council wants more time?  We need action NOW. This is urgent for those of us whose families live with the pesticide and dust drift every day."

Before the Mayor’s presentation, Hanapepe resident Lorna Cummings Poe testified to the Council that:

The health of many in our community is being compromised by pesticide spraying on thousands of acres on our tiny island. . . We cannot continue to ignore the fact these pesticides have harmed our reefs, salt beds and sealife that sustain our people. The protection, safety and health of people you are elected to serve is being compromised. 2491 has been watered down to favor the seed companies and not the health and welfare of Kauai’s people. . . . 

 Most of your so-called red shirts from the west side respect the close relationships we share with those who work for seed companies. They are our friends and family, too. There are hundreds of west siders that are supporters of 2491.

.

Bill 2491 Second Reading RoundUp

SUBHEAD: A quick review of today's Kauai County Council meeting on Bill 2491.

By Andy Parx on 8 October 2013 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2013/10/bill-2491-second-reading-roundup.html)


Image above: Forty Kauai residents line up to testify before midnight on 10/7/13 GMO-Pesticide Bill 2491 From Shannon Rudolph.

WHAT:
Kauai County Council continuation of Bill 2491 to regulate Kauai pesticide and GMO experiments.

WHEN:
Tuesday, October 15th, 2013 beginning at 9:00am (get there early for seating)

WHERE:
Kauai Council Chamber
Historic Kauai County Building
4396 Rice Street, Lihue, Kauai 

Today's meeting was "recessed" until next Tuesday Oct 15 at 9 a.m. The only agenda item taken up today was the communication from the mayor and testimony was taken only on that agenda item.

Chair Jay Fufaro said they will take up the executive session first next Tuesday but he's said stuff like that before and changed his mind. This is not a new meeting but a continuation of today's meeting. But since the other eight Bill 2491 related agenda items were not taken up, legally they have to have public testimony, especially about the bill itself.

Mayor Bernard Carvalho came and showed his true stripes today and is an enemy of our efforts, choosing to align himself with the governor and the chemical companies and demand delay and deferral, ostensibly claiming incompetence on his administration's and the county's part would prevent the county from enforcing the bill and asking to have back-room negotiations (which would violate the Sunshine Law if it involved more than one councilmember and even then might violate the serial communication rule).

He wanted a two month deferral which would put it into the legislative session and next year's election cycle. He and his assistant Gary Heu presented a bunch of gibberish with a bunch of nothing but "it's tooo haaard"- like a fifth grader trying to do math homework.

He had one of his famous "Powerpoint(less) presentation to disctract from the fact that there was nothing in it but platitudes and non sequitors. He presented nothing but obkected to everything in the bill. Could the $4000 he has taken from the chemical companies just this year have anything to do with it?

Don't miss Dr. Lorin Pang's testimony.

And one more thing - Bernard, under questioning revealed that he had not read any of the important documents from Dr Valenzuela's paper to the pediatricians report and everything in between.

The mayor said he hadn't even read the bill until last week. I'm not sure he even knows about the lawsuit. He said instead he talked to the state people and the chemical companies and that was enough for him.

He finally got flustered and started yelling and getting huffy as is his habit.


.

Second Reading of Bill 2491

SUBHEAD: Getting to the finish line with Bill 2491to regulate pesticide and experimental GMOs.

By Blake Drolson on 6 October 2013 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2013/10/second-reading-2491.html)


Image above: Clip art illustration of Finish Line.

WHAT:
Kauai County Council second reading on Bill 2491 (final vote) to regulate Kauai pesticide and GMO experiments.

WHEN:
Tuesday, October 8th, 2013 beginning at 8:30am to 1:00pm (get there early for seating)

WHERE:
Kauai Council Chamber
Historic Kauai County Building
4396 Rice Street, Lihue, Kauai

Today I am writing to inform you about the latest news regarding Bill 2491, and to tell you about Tuesdays upcoming county council meeting that will hopefully have time to consider bill 2491.

Also, we have some marches coming up on October 12 to support the worldwide "March against Monsanto", and finally, we have our GMO Free Kaua'i Halloween party on 10/24 at Lydgate. More information on all of that below!

So first off, GMO Free Kauai is very happy to see Bill 2491 get out of committee, and move to the full council. Yes , we were disappointed that the language for the moratorium was dropped, that some buffer zones were reduced, and the EIS language was changed to a more general study.

 Most importantly though, is the bill in its currently amended form has a strong chance to pass the full council and become law, and it DOES include disclosure, buffer zones and an environmental study that will look for harm from the biotech industries operation.

We feel this does "move the ball forward" so to speak. We do hope that the bill can be strengthened in full council deliberations, while still having the ability to get enough votes for the bill to pass into law.

So the next county council deliberations on Bill 2491 will start this Tuesday 10/8, at 8:30 am. It is scheduled to end at 1pm and there are a couple of items on the agenda before 2491.

So it may, or may not, get fully addressed on Tuesday, it could get extended to say Thursday for example, without needing a week notice for the public, since it's the same meeting, extended.

We will have to see how it plays out. If you want to get a seat inside, I would suggest thinking about getting there very early, way before 8:30 am.

Yes I know its crazy to have to do that to get a seat. Hopefully there will be another live video stream for those who can't make it and want to watch.

Speaking of video feeds, check this page for video from the county council.
http://www.kauai.gov/tabid/400/Default.aspx

If you go down to the purple "County Council" box, and click you can see past videos. The last committee meeting on 9/27 is there, all 12 hours and 17 minutes. Here are the direct links:

9/27 comittee meeting, 12 hours of video...
http://kauai.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1134
9/27 last 17 minutes of meeting
http://kauai.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1135

Now in addition to the upcoming County Council meetings we have TWO sign waving events coming up on 10/12, next Saturday. The host of the first one is "Mom's Hui" and will be in Princeville along the highway, mauka side, from 10am to 1pm.

The other march is in Kapaa, at the Safeway shopping center on the highway. We will gather there outside of Papaya's beforehand to rally from there to the highway. The Kapa'a march is from 10am till 2pm. Contact for the Kapa'a march is mamkauaiorganizers@gmail.com.

If anyone knows of any other marches on the south or west side please email me and I will get that info out too.

Finally, our GMO - Free Kaua'i Halloween party will be held on October 24th (yes the 24th), which is a Thursday night, starting at 6pm. This is a free event, and we will have live music for the event (details still coming). We will have a gmo free potluck early for the event, and of course costumes are encouraged.

This party is a chance to come out, have some fun with other folks on the island who want to make a shift to a healthy sustainable agriculture for Kaua'i become a reality.

Thank you again for all your support, together we are making a real difference!


Video above: Dr Stephanie Seneff on Glyphosate testifies on Big Island GMO Bill. Source: Shannon Rudolph. From (http://youtu.be/wDvo67WEYmM).

---

Pass the Bill

Staff on 7 October 2013 for Stop Poisoning Paradise
(http://www.stoppoisoningparadise.org/)

As you know, Bill 2491 was approved and passed out of the County Council Economic Development committee, with 4 out of 5 committee members approving an amended form of the bill, with more detailed disclosure provisions to help our westside ohana and families island-wide.

The Bill now advances to the full Council this TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8 where it may be further amended.  There is also a chance that the final vote will happen at this meeting. 

WE HAVE NOT WON YET,
AND THE AMENDED BILL NEEDS STRENGTHENING
SO LET'S PRESS ON!

Please come show your support on Tuesday!

On October 8, let's make sure that the full Council hears us loud and clear, with our signs and our presence:

Our Council must serve the will of the people,
and they must show COURAGE.

And let's remind our Council members that Bill 2491 supporters are united and "voter-strong" and that WE WILL NOT ALLOW MONEY AND WELL-FINANCED CORPORATIONS TO DETERMINE OUR PUBLIC POLICY through threats and intimidation.

Let's remind Council Members that, to date, we have produced: 

• Over 10,000 petition signatures
• Over 4,000 parents, doctors, nurses, teachers, union and ag workers, Hawaiian leaders, farmers, students and others joining our Mana March
• Union endorsements from teachers, nurses, and hotel workers
• Endorsements from community groups, medical professionals, lawyers, agricultural experts, realtors, and cultural practitioners
• Thousands of written testimonies in support of 2491 (constituting most of the total testimonies delivered)
• Endorsements by over 60 Kauai-based businesses (and growing!)
• Dozens of favorable media articles
• Continuous Op-Eds and Letters to the Editor in support of Bill 2491

No wonder a recent Honolulu Star-Advertiser article contained this statement:

"...some bio tech advocates say privately that the companies may have already lost the public-relations battle and that the debate has been defined by the activists."

Let's Power On!

To remind us about why Bill 2491 is important, watch these testimony videos:


Video above: A Wailua Valley mother testifies about Pioneer pesticide pollution and her brain damaged child. From (http://youtu.be/BsInkGhXfCg).


Video above: Felicia Cowden testifies on "Trust". From (http://youtu.be/oHB8fOCJLmg).

.

Private & Public Cynicism in TGI

SUBHEAD: They apply pressure on the compliant media with dishonest public relations supporting their goal.

By Juan Wilson on 1 October 2013 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2013/10/private-public-cynicism-in-tgi.html)

Image above: Gatehouse to Caumset State park in New York that is similar in scale to one proposed at Kokee. From (http://www.islandbreath.org/2006Year/11-justice/0611-04kokeebetrayal.html)

Kauai Cynical Ploy #1
DLNR announces koa tree poaching on rise in Kokee.

“Amounts taken vary from scene to scene,” Deborah Ward, the information specialist for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), wrote in an email. “Thefts appear to be increasing and in areas more visible to DLNR officials and the public.”9/30/13 TGI

Why is his Cynical
DLNR wants gate at the Kokee Park Entrance

Since it first proposed the new master plan for Kokee State Park, in 2004, the DLNR has asserted its intent to put a gate up at the entrance to the park and collect fees for entry. There has been fierce and overwhelming opposition from the public since the Kokee Master Plan was first made public. 

Granted, koa wood poaching has been a problem for some time - as well as other resource abuses and overuses. By pointing this out in a press release they are not producing news but once more trying to get around the fact that the residents of Kauai and the public advisory board the DLNR set up to inform them of community desires rejects the gate as a solution to resource issues. 

The Kokee State Park Advisory Council was put together with community members and stakeholders in Kokee. They have continued to recommend that no gate be erected at the park entrance. They met on 9/25/13 at NTBG headquarters in Kalaheo. The garden Island reported:

The original proposal — drawn up in 2003 by officials of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and a consultant — included a 40- to 60-room hotel with restaurant, a park entry gate to collect user fees, construction of new overlooks above Waimea Valley and several expanded parking areas.

Had others not carefully read through the proposal back then we would have a master plan that includes a hotel, an entry gate that would charge everyone (both residents and non-residents) and have a souvenir store at Waimea Canyon Lookout.

Instead, the community came out to save the mountain from large-scale development, creating Kauai Community-One Voice for Kokee (better known as Save Kokee), an organization dedicated to preserving the parks. In 2008, the legislature created the Kokee State Park Advisory Council (KSPAC)...

Before diving into specifics, KSPAC Chair Charles Wichman Jr. told about 50 community members gathered Wednesday that they would be “pleasantly surprised” by the revisions recently adopted by the state.

“With the exception of the entry booth, we’re really close,” he said.

The proposed entry station includes a 100-square-foot gated booth for collecting fees from non-residents only, as well as a 500-square-foot roadside support building. It would be at mile marker 7, just above the junction of Waimea Canyon Drive and Kokee Road.

Aside from not wanting the entry station at all, concerns voiced Wednesday included that its location would create a large amount of traffic, as well as an additional stretch of roadway the park would be responsible for maintaining, rather than the Department of Transportation. 6/15/13 TGI

Island Breath: DLNR Plan for Kokee State Park on Kauai 11/14/04
Island Breath: Petition against gate fee takes off 11/22/04
Island Breath: Petition against gate gets 1300 signatures 11/30/04
Island Breath: BLNR has not reviewed public testimony 1/11/05
Island Breath: News from Kokee Coalition 2/7/05
Island Breath: Kokee Park Master Plan 5/17/05
Island Breath: Kokee Reprieve by BLNR 9/12/06 
Island Breath: Destruction of Kokee 9/15/06
Island Breath: Kokee will never be the same 9/24/06
Island Breath: State Betrays Kauai on Kokee 12/29/06


Image above: From GoogleEarth 3D image looking north in Hanamaulu-Wailua area near Route 583 by Juan Wilson. There are GMO fields to the east of 583.

Kauai Cynical Ploy #2
GMO companies offer voluntary moratorium on expansion north of Wailua. 

This week through the corrupted machinations of Governor Neil (PLDC) Abercrombie and the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association (lobbying for the Big Five Chemical Companies - Monansto, Dow, Dupont, Syngenta, BASF) a proposal has been floated promising a voluntary moratorium on new open field GMO experimental field operations north of the Wailua River on the east side of Kauai.

"Addressing the moratorium issue, Yukimura said she spoke with the four biotech seed companies, which have agreed to not expand operations north of the Wailua River, pending the county’s fact-finding study.  9/29/13 TGI

Why is this cynical? 
GMO companies don't want the rich and influential turning on them... Oops! Too late. 

...While it may seem like a welcome offer, Hooser described the proposal as “insulting to the community” as it does not include the island’s Westside. 9/29/13 TGI

As far as  I know there were no plans to develop such experimental fields north of the Wailua and the moratorium they talk about is both temporary and voluntary. In other words, they can go back on it any time they want.

But more insidious, I suspect,  is the GMO chemical coporporations' assumption they might peel off support of anti-GMO efforts by those troublesome rich organic kale eating activists on the North Shore and their pesky radio station KKCR.

I don't think the people on Kauai are that gullible. 

Image above: Massive GMO corn field on land leased from Grove Farms on East side of Route 583. Photo by Juan Wilson. Click to enlarge.

.

Anti-GMO fight centers in Hawaii

SOURCE: Andy Parx (andyparx@yahoo.net)
SUBHEAD: Companies like Monsanto are often depicted as boogeymen who must be driven from Hawaii.

By Derrick DePledge on 29 September 2013 for the Star Advertiser -
(http://www.staradvertiser.com/s?action=login&f=y&id=225699861&id=225699861)


Image above: Destination of the Mana March at the Old County Building in Lihue Kauai in support of Bill 2492. From (https://www.facebook.com/surfriderkauai).

Kauai County Councilman Gary Hooser described the anti-GMO march in Lihue this month as the greatest show of grass-roots democracy in the island's history.

Thousands of people filled the streets to protest the spread of genetically modified organisms and pesticide use, the most visible expression of activism in a year when legislation to restrict GMOs gained traction on Kauai, in Hawaii County and at the state Legislature.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie has stepped into the fray with a promise that the state would set guidelines for biotechnology companies to voluntarily disclose the amount of restricted-use pesticides applied on Kauai and to agree to setbacks near schools and hospitals.

While the fear of GMOs might on the surface appear new — the latest outrage for environmentalists — the movement has been quietly building in Hawaii for a decade. It burst into public view this year because of a confluence of factors:

• Newly elected county council­members on Kauai and in Hawaii County and a change of leadership in the state House have given anti-GMO activists allies in positions of power.
  
  
• Anti-GMO websites and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become incubators for grass-roots organizing, empowering activists with the belief that they are part of a national and global movement. The successful, social media-driven campaign that helped take down the Public Land Development Corp. this year also brought energy to the anti-GMO fight, which involves many of the same activists.
  
  
• Wealthy mainland philanthropists who underwrite environmental causes have donated significant amounts of money over the past several years to help Hawaii activists and educators raise awareness about GMOs, seed preservation and food sustainability.

"When we started organizing three or four years ago, we had a handful of people," said Walter Ritte, a Native Hawaiian activist on Molokai and board member for Hawai‘i SEED, a Koloa-based nonprofit aligned with GMO-Free Kaua‘i, GMO-Free Oahu, GMO-Free Maui and other leaders behind the movement. "And this year it just ballooned out. It just exploded."

Hawaii is an ideal stage for the GMO debate.

Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer and BASF own or lease 25,000 acres across the islands, about 5 percent of prime agricultural land, according to the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association. Seed, primarily corn, is a $250 million-a-year industry in Hawaii with about 2,000 jobs. The islands also have vocal environmental and progressive activists who have increasingly asserted their influence among the Democrats who dominate state politics.

The anti-GMO movement in Hawaii does not have the financial clout that the biotech giants can devote to public relations, lobbying and political campaign contributions, but wealthy mainland philanthropists, largely hidden from public view, have had an important hand in the groundwork.

The Ceres Trust, a Northfield, Minn.-based private foundation led by Kent Whealy, a seed preservation activist, and Judith Kern, a philanthropist, donated $145,490 to Hawai‘i SEED in 2011, federal tax filings show. The trust also gave $550,000 in 2011 and $650,000 in 2010 to the Center for Food Safety, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that has fought the GMO industry.

Tax records for 2012 and 2013 are not yet public — and Whealy and Hawai‘i SEED did not respond to interview requests about philanthropy — but the Ceres Trust was listed as a sponsor for a speaking tour in Hawaii in January that featured Vandana Shiva, an environmental activist from India; Andrew Kimbrell, an environmental attorney and the executive director of the Center for Food Safety; and Ritte. The speaking tour, emceed by Nancy Redfeather, an organic farmer and educator, coincided with a march and rally against GMOs at the state Capitol on the opening day of the Legislature.

The Sacharuna Foundation, a Virginia-based private foundation started by Lavinia Currier, an heiress, filmmaker and philanthropist who lives in The Plains, Va., and has ranch property on Molokai, donated $68,750 to Hawai‘i SEED from 2005 to 2011. The foundation, tax filings show, also donated $257,400 to the Center for Food Safety from 2005 to 2010. Currier could not be reached for comment.

Ritte said the grant money has helped activists travel between the islands and with organizing. Hooser, who proposed a bill to regulate GMOs and pesticide use on Kauai, said he consulted with the Center for Food Safety on his legislation, along with local attorneys for Earthjustice and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.

The Ceres Trust and the Sacharuna Foundation have also made sizable grants in Hawaii to promote seed preservation and food sustainability.

In 2011, tax filings show, the Ceres Trust gave $340,307 to E Kupaku ka ‘Aina — Hawaii Land Restoration Institute, a Wailuku-based effort to restore native ecosystems. Penny Levin, the institute's executive director who has spoken out against genetically modified taro, has been a leader in research to protect taro from pests and to preserve taro varieties.

The Sacharuna Foundation donated $53,000 from 2005 to 2011 to Ka Ohana o na Pua, Redfeather's Kealakekua-based nonprofit that does agricultural education and promotes school gardens. The Ceres Trust donated $40,000 in 2011 to The Kohala Center in Waimea for seed preservation. Redfeather, known for her organic Kawanui Farm, works with The Kohala Center.

"This is not anti-GMO education," Redfeather said in an interview. "This is agricultural education that is totally outside that realm."

Education on seed preservation and food sustainability has been overshadowed by some of the sharp-edged activism of the anti-GMO movement.

Using anti-GMO websites, Facebook pages and Twitter, activists have created an online echo chamber where biotech companies like Monsanto are often depicted as boogeymen who must be driven from Hawaii. Politicians, state and county administrators and agricultural researchers who do not fully share the activists' views are often portrayed as corrupt shills for the biotech industry.

Despite biotech's overwhelming financial advantage — and recent signs that the industry might be fighting back with similar guerrilla tactics — some biotech advocates say privately that the companies may have already lost the public-relations battle and that the debate in Hawaii has been defined by the activists.

The Public Land Development Corp., which was unanimously repealed this year by the Legislature, was derailed in part by a similar strain of activism. Environmentalists, Native Hawaiians and labor raised legitimate policy objections to the PLDC — a public-private partnership intended to develop underused public land — but it was the exaggerated, over-the-top rhetoric by activists that helped make the new agency politically toxic before it could launch a single project.

Anti-GMO activists, including many who have no background in science or agriculture, are making increasingly alarming and unverified claims about the health and environmental threats from GMO crops and pesticide use. Some who share the movement's goals worry privately that such rhetoric could undermine the movement's ability to reach the broader public, where issues like greater disclosure about GMO and pesticide use have appeal.

Ritte and other organizers, however, say the movement has already broken through and will keep building momentum if government and biotech companies resist greater disclosure.

"And the more they resist, the bigger the wave is going to get," he predicted. "I'm an organizer, you know. I'm thinking to myself, ‘Well, these guys are just playing right into our hands.' This thing is going to get bigger and bigger."

A DRIFT to the left in Democratic Party politics over the past several years has given anti-GMO activists an opening. Few Democrats, especially those with leadership aspirations, are willing to alienate the party's environmental and progressive wings by publicly dismissing or minimizing concerns about GMOs.

Many of the progressive Democrats who formed the coalition with minority Republicans behind new state House Speaker Joseph Souki in January support GMO restrictions. While there was some internal hesitation, the coalition named Rep. Jessica Wooley (D, Kahaluu-Ahuimanu-Kaneohe), a progressive who favors GMO labeling, as chairwoman of the House Agriculture Committee.

Wooley helped steer an admittedly flawed bill through the House that would impose labeling requirements on GMO produce sold in the state. The bill did not move through the Senate, but House leaders used the legislation as an example of progress under the new coalition.

"I think it's the public's persistent concern about their right to know," said Wooley, who plans to try again next session. "People aren't going to back off on this issue, I think, until they're given some basic information."

The failure of the GMO labeling bill at the Legislature helped ignite the issue at the county level, where anti-GMO activists have friends in newly elected councilmembers.

Hawaii County Councilwoman Margaret Wille, an attorney and community activist elected last November, said she is motivated by what she believes is arrogance by the biotech companies and acquiescence by the Legislature.

"I think some of us — Gary Hooser, myself — just said, ‘You may run over us but we're just not going to roll over,'" said Wille, who introduced one of two bills before the Hawaii County Council that would ban new GMO crops.

Hooser, a former state Senate majority leader and former director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control, was elected to the Kauai County Council last November and proposed the most far-reaching GMO and pesticide regulation bill.

The bill, which was amended by a council committee on Friday night by a 4-1 vote, now goes before the full council.

Hooser said the bill, if passed, could have statewide repercussions. But he said the legislation is in response to immediate concerns about biotech and pesticide exposure on Kauai.

"It really is about the local impacts," he said. "The urgency to deal with this issue does not exist in Hawaii Kai or Moiliili or McCully or Manoa or Kailua."

.

At the End of the Night a Good Day

SUBHEAD:  Bill 2491 amended so that pesticide disclosure requirement bolstered, buffer zones remain.

By Gary Hooser on 28 Seltember 2013 for GaryHooserBlog -
(http://garyhooser.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/at-the-end-of-the-night-it-was-a-very-good-day/)


Image above: Proponents and opponents of Kauai County Council Bill 2491 wait to enter the council chambers, Friday ahead of a meeting to discuss the bill at the historic County Building. From (http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/amended/article_6421cc64-288c-11e3-8593-0019bb2963f4.html).

Last night (Friday, Sept 27th), after an exhausting 12 hour meeting, the Kauai County Council Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Sustainability voted 4 to 1 to amend and to pass out of committee Bill 2491. The full Council will now consider and vote on the amended Bill. That Council meeting has yet to be scheduled but could occur within the next 7 to 10 days.

Was this a victory? The answer is a resounding YES.

Is this enough? The answer is a resounding NO.

While I continue to review the details of the entire very comprehensive and complex amendment that was passed last night – it appears that 50% of the Bill survived the amendment process.

The key and heart and soul of the entire effort, “the right to know” disclosure provision was made even stronger than originally introduced.

The disclosure provision is arguably the most important element of the Bill and is what the agrochemical companies are most concerned about – and this provision emerged from the process robust and strong. The buffer zones are intact but need to be strengthened. The EIS provision was converted into an alternative study but I believe will serve the purpose needed to determine health and environmental impacts of this industry. The moratorium did not make the cut but interestingly the companies seem to be willing to sign an agreement limiting expansion.

Thank you to all who have worked so hard on this effort. Yesterday’s outcome was a significant win but much work is needed to strengthen the Bill that now moves to the full Council.

You can be sure that the industry pushback will be strong and swift. It is likely we will hear from their lawyers again as they renew their effort to bully the County into submission. It is also likely that there will be more press releases, more pronouncements’ from State government officials, more full page ads in the newspaper and more letters from the Chamber of Commerce.

Please let Council Members JoAnn Yukimura and Nadine Nakamura how much their work is appreciated in helping to pass Bill 2491. Without their willingness to do the heavy lifting and writing of the amendments, this very important measure could have remained in limbo for a long, long time. Tell them mahalo…and yes please tell them we need a stronger version that includes better buffer zones and a moratorium commitment that includes the entire island of Kauai. Even though he is not on the Committee and was not able to vote last night, Bill 2491’s co-introducer Council Member Tim Bynum provided invaluable support during last nights deliberations and deserves a huge mahalo as well.

To be clear: Bill 2491 can be further amended during the full Council meeting that will be scheduled in the near future. It can be made stronger or it can be made weaker during this meeting and this effort is not over until the full Council votes and the Mayor signs Bill 2491 into law.

Imua! gh

Amendments:

1) The core of the issue – “The Right To Know” was preserved and strengthened. Should Bill 2491 pass out of the full Council in its present amended form companies will have to disclose to the world the chemicals they are using on our island. They will have to tell us what pesticides they are using, how much they are using and where and when they used it. And they will have to tell us what GMO crops they are growing as well.

2) Buffer Zones – While I believe this section needs significant strengthening, the amended Bill includes buffer protection zones around schools, hospitals, homes and many other areas. To be clear this section IMHO needs to be expanded and I am hopeful this can be done in the upcoming Council meeting.

3) Health/Environmental Impact Study – The amended Bill requires the County to conduct a study following a comprehensive process designed to ensure the end product is comprehensive and includes the detailed medical and environmental data gathering and analysis required for solid future decision making. While not following the 343 EIS process which I preferred and was outlined in the Bill, this is an alternative path to the same objective.

4) Prohibition of open air testing of experimental pesticides and experimental GMO’s – These provisions were deleted and are not included in the “moving forward Bill 2491”.

5) Permitting – This provision was deleted. I attempted unsuccessfully to retain this provision by amending the words “shall” to “may” and thus retaining the option of the County to implement permitting. However, those introducing the amendments decided this provision could be passed into law at a future date, after the study was completed and if the study showed a specific need for permitting.

6) Moratorium – This provision was deleted and was perhaps my biggest disappointment. However apparently the 4 agrochemical companies are prepared to sign a written agreement that they will not expand their operations north of the Wailua River for a period of time that I believe was two years or until the County Health and Environmental study was completed. While at first it may seem like a welcome offer to those who live on the north and east shore, this proposal is offensive and unacceptable – and must include the entire island.
.

Corporate Colonialism on Kauai

SUBHEAD: Kauai fights back against modern day plantation mentality of GMO-Pestiscide companies.

By Maggie Sergio on 23 September 2013 for Huffington Post -
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maggie-sergio/corporate-colonialism-pes_b_3969102.html)


Image above: Detail of Diego Rivera mural "Gloriosa Victoria" illustrating the U.S. backed overthrow of the Guatemalan government in 1954 to the advantage of United Fruit company. Back then it was all about a corporate monopoly on bananas in Central America. Note Eisenhower face on bomb near dead workers as well as the "corporate type" whispering in a "farmer's" ear while who shakes hand with local politician with pocket full of dollars who is surrounded by military. From (http://swlynch.com/2012/12/01/why-the-u-s-ruined-guatemala-merging-the-cold-war-ethos-and-economic-determinism-as-an-explanation/).

The citizens of Kauai are taking back their power, and it is spectacular to witness. Since my first article on Kauai's battle to protect public health and the environment against covert and excessive pesticide use, a revolution on the Garden Island has started. Unlike the well-publicized revolutions happening around the world today, Kauai's revolution is absent of violence, and rich with the spirit of Aloha.

But don't let the spirit of Aloha mislead you. As Kauai resident and HuffPost blogger Andrea Brower so eloquently conveys in this piece, Aloha is a bond that will not compromise when it comes to public health, and the health of the environment.

"We stand united in Aloha and our love for Kauai. But unity in Aloha never means compromising all of our health and our common air, water and soil. To those corporations who would seek to threaten our entire community simply because we have requested you to be better neighbors, let our voice be heard loud and clear that our aloha on Kauai runs deeper than all the lobbyists and lawyers you can buy." ~ Andrea Brower

What has happened on Kauai after Bill #2491 was introduced on June 30 has been dramatic. It has opened my eyes to the practices of the biotech industry, and it has angered and saddened me. So yes, with this third article, you will notice a definite change in tone. I have learned that anyone who questions the practices of this industry is labeled as anti-science and mocked, many times in a public forum on social media.

 Smear campaigns are launched against anyone who dare question. The blatantly presumptuous and un-aloha conduct of the agrochemical campaign against bill # 2491 has been astounding. I have watched live, three marathon public hearings (each lasting approximately 12 hours in length) and receive updates almost daily from island friends and social media. If you monitored this situation as closely as I have, you would be angry too.


Video above: Edited presntation of Mana March. From (http://youtu.be/3lumLa0pkLA).

Mana March, Sept 8, 2013
On Sunday, Sept 8, 2013, the largest protest event in Kauai's history took place in the capital of Lihue. Over 4000 people marched in support of the passing of bill #2491, an ordinance introduced in June that would require the GMO industry on Kauai to fully disclose what pesticides are being used, and it would require that 500 foot pesticide free buffer zones be implemented around schools, hospitals, waterways and other sensitive areas.

The bill also requires an environmental impact statement be completed, before the industry can expand any further. As mentioned in my previous articles, the GMO industry is fighting any oversight or regulation of their industrial cultivation practices which includes the use of 18 tons of restricted use pesticides annually on the tiny island of Kauai.

The Mana March was broadcast live via a streaming feed online, and covered by AP and other news sources from around the world.


Sept 9th brought the Silent Treatment
At the Aug 5th hearing, it was threats of a lawsuit from the GMO industry. On Monday, Sept 9, the third 12 hour public meeting on bill #2491 was held. Like the previous hearings I watched online, I was glued to my computer. This public hearing heard continued expert and public testimony, in addition to hearing from representatives from the GMO companies on Kauai fighting against bill #2491.

The drama climaxed on September 9, and hit an unbelievable point, when representatives from Syngenta, Dupont Pioneer, BASF and Dow Agrosciences collectively refused to answer questions from Councilmember Gary Hooser. As you can see in the video clip below, Kauai County Councilmember Gary Hooser is asking the GMO companies about possible compromise on each of the provisions of the bill.


Image above: Hooser asks series of questions on areas of compromise by GMO companies. Answer - stoney silence. From (http://youtu.be/5uANLfW6b4k).

The refusal of each of the company representatives to answer questions of an elected government official during a public hearing (especially when inviting the opportunity to negotiate) speaks volumes about the intentions of the industry and the lack of respect for the people of Kauai.

This is what Corporate Colonialism looks like, and the Trojan horse that has snuck onto Kauai after the sugar cane industry collapsed contains 18 tons (used annually) of restricted use pesticides, and an unknown amount of general use and experimental pesticides. This Trojan horse rolled into paradise with stealth precision and now proudly proclaims, "We are feeding the world!"

As freelance journalist and author Adam Skolnick states in his recent Salon article "If the seed can't be grown safely, what does it matter if the corn is safe to eat?"

During the previous public hearing on Aug 5th, the GMO industry displayed their defiance of local government and the legislative process in a different way; with the direct threat of a lawsuit. The video below shows Kauai County Councilmember Ross Kagawa asking lawyers for the GMO companies, "if this bill is passed, will you sue us?" The response from lawyers representing DuPont Pioneer and Syngenta was, "Take that as a given."

There is over $500K of GMO Campaign Donations
I learned early in life that if something doesn't make sense, you need to follow the money. That is just what Hawaii-based nonprofit "Babes against Biotech" has done. Founder, Nomi Carmona has been conducting an audit of the biotech campaign money that saturates the offices of elected officials in Hawaii. The research shows how much money is flowing into the State of Hawaii from the biotech industry. What is interesting is that the research has been made more challenging by the fact that all sorts of silly games are played by the GMO lobbyists including the changing of lobbyist names by one letter, using nicknames, or having the donation come from a spouse or other family member. This is all an attempt to make electronic searches of public information more difficult. All information was obtained from the State of Hawaii

Nomi Carmona summarized the results so far of her audit and you can find that below. So far, $515,775 of GMO money has come from registered lobbyists and this includes money from unregistered lobbyists as well. It is unknown how much soft money has flowed into the state of Hawaii, as these types of gifts are often impossible to track.

"The 2013 Babes Against Biotech analysis assesses the GMO related campaign funds of the Hawaii State House, Senate, Governor, Mayors and County Councils from 2007 to the current filing period, the extent of publicly available records online. We identified a grand total of $515,775 coming directly from GMO companies and registered GMO company lobbyists. A secondary assessment shows money coming in from just three unregistered lobbyist immediate family members, to contribute an additional $31,800. Third degree figures include unregistered GMO company employees, national trade organizations which represent GMO companies and lobbyists employed by Monsanto lobbyists totaling $6,950. The grand totals include only first degree funds filed directly from GMO companies and their documented lobbyists.

Due to dozens of varieties of lobbyist filing names, nicknames, repeated failure to spell their own names and company names correctly, constant swaps of addresses, titles and companies, this has to be performed visually. The neglect to consistently identify themselves means electronic searches will miss many entries. They might omit one letter that removes them from a search under their name but synchronizes them with known addresses on file and versions of their names. For example, numerous 'Monsato' donations from the Monsanto headquarters address.

Our Speaker of the House, Joe Souki tops the representative totals at $16,800, while Senator Michelle Kidani takes the title of Most GMO Funded Senator at $24,550 with Senator Rosalyn Baker, Chair of Consumer Protection close behind. Senate President Donna Kim took $10,650 while Senator Clarence Nishihara, Chair of Agriculture lends $14,412 to the Senate grand total of $198,969.

Only three state senators have taken no 'GMO money,' Russell Ruderman, Laura Thielen and Les Ihara Jr., with only ten of fifty-one State Representatives clear of direct GMO funding. The other forty-one Representatives took $212,081. The Mayoral assessment total shows $18,900 with Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell absorbing the bulk at $11,200. The Council assessments rank Honolulu again, as Most GMO Funded Council to no surprise, receiving $50,725 of $51,425 in all Councils statewide.

Governor Neil Abercrombie received $34,400 of GMO funding directly and an additional $23,800 from three women unregistered as lobbyists, the wives and daughter of the two most giving Monsanto lobbyists, John Radcliffe and George "Red" Morris."

Babes Against Biotech 2013 GMO Campaign Fund Analysis:
Hawaii State Mayoral, $18,900
Hawaii State Senate & House, $411,050
State of Hawaii County Councils, $51,425
Hawaii Governor, $34,400

With this amount of GMO lobby money influencing the State of Hawaii, the conflict of interest is undeniable. The State of Hawaii has not, and will not, take any actions to curtail an industry that is funding them. Protection for the people, environment and wildlife must come at the local level.

And where is the EPA in all of this?
This has been one of my biggest disappointments. When I first shared the unbelievable story about what is happening on Kauai with colleagues and friends, the most common response I got from people was, "Where is the EPA?" "How can they allow this to happen?" Having those very same questions, I reached out to the Office of Pesticide Programs at the EPA, and inquired as to their role in all of this. I shared my two previous articles, highlighting my second article documenting the discovery of pesticides at Waimea Canyon Middle School. I asked the simple question; "How can this be allowed to happen?"

I shared with the EPA this disturbing video testimony and this. The Department of Pesticide Programs didn't respond to my requests for answers but instead referred me to the EPA's press office. After a few pleasant email exchanges over a two-week period I was hopeful that the EPA would express concern over what is happening on Kauai and launch an investigation. I held up publishing this article until I heard their response.

After all, the EPA is chartered with protecting human health and the environment. My illusion was quickly shattered when I received an email that felt as if it had been written by their legal team. My questions about children being exposed to Chlorypifos (which is a violation of the label which is federal law) were not addressed.

With respect to pesticide violations the EPA said this:

In general, the State of Hawaii is responsible for inspection and enforcement when there is a possible violation of federal law related to unlawful use of a pesticide."

However, with $515,575 in GMO campaign donations to elected officials in the State of Hawaii, the integrity of the State of Hawaii has been severely compromised.
Why an Environmental Impact Statement is critical
What is deeply concerning is that the impact to the people, the environment and wildlife from the cultivation practices of the biotech industry is unknown. Events such as children and teachers collapsing during school, in addition to restricted use pesticides found at Waimea Canyon Middle School, unexplained sea urchin die offs in which no one tested for pesticide exposure and a class action lawsuit by the citizens of Waimea are dire symptoms that something is very wrong on Kauai. To postpone any further study is jeopardizing the future of the island and its people.

The State of Hawaii already has one Superfund site due to pesticides, at the old Del Monte plantation on Oahu. This former plantation is still under remediation by the EPA and serves as a reminder to the entire world that industrial agriculture impacts our planet, and the health of our communities.

On Friday, September 27 the fourth Kauai County Council meeting will take place. Either the bill will be passed or deferred once again. Since the bill's introduction on June 30th of this year, there has been a bright light shining on Kauai; the only island in Hawaii that was never conquered by King Kamehameha. In my heart I know that same unconquerable spirit, combined with the energy of Aloha will prevail and support the people of Kauai in their battle against Goliath.

If you want to help the people of Kauai please send your Aloha and support by sharing this article with friends, visiting the Stop Poisoning Paradise website, and signing this petition hosted by the Pesticide Action Network.
Mahalo!

.