Kauai council may repeal anti-GMO/anti-pesticide bill ruled invalid by federal court

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The County Council will take up a resolution to correct the serious public policy error made with enactment of Bill 2491, the 2013 anti-GMO measure later repurposed as pesticide legislation.

…federal courts at both trial and appellate levels ruled that Bill 2491 conflicted with state law, which grants the state of Hawaii the power to regulate both GMOs and pesticides.

In response, County Council Chair Mel Rapozo and Vice Chair Ross Kagawa have advocated repeal of Bill 2491. They make the simple argument that because federal courts have invalidated it and its proponents clearly do not plan to pursue further appeals, there is no earthly reason for this bad law to remain on the books.

Farming is a blend of art and science…simplistic fears of GMO crops lack factual justification…some pesticide use is a necessary aspect of farming on anything approaching a commercial scale. When sugar was king in Hawaii, industrial farming techniques were commonplace, including pesticide use.

With sugar now gone, Kauai’s future as an agricultural provider depends on taking farming to scale in a way that farmers of all types — including conventional, organic and GMO seed companies and even GMO crops grown on island — can all contribute to the food supply chain…

As a county, we have the ability and legal power to use existing and new zoning ordinances to create an economic climate more hospitable to diverse agriculture.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Move past Bill 2491 to era in which all farmers can prosper

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