HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0271.128 2012-2014 Page 1 of 1
Murashige, Laura COUNTY CLERK,
COUNTY OF HAWAII
From: Michael Shintaku [mhshintaku @gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2013 8:35 PM 1013 MAY 13 AM 9 37
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: County Council Bill 79. Please disregard my earlier email
My apologies. My comments should not have been focused on kalo, but I couldn't download the
text of the bill from your website and ended up reading a different bill, HB 107.
My apologies.
Here is my letter (again, please disregard the earlier one):
Dear County Council Members:
My name is Michael Shintaku and I am a Professor of Plant Pathology at UH-Hilo. I wish to
comment on County Council Bill 79 as a private citizen, and not as an employee or
representative of the University of Hawaii.
1 appreciate the intent of this bill but its entire premise is based on the misguided belief that
biotechnological solutions to agricultural problems are dangerous.
You are probably aware that in the United States, a great majority of the sugar beets, soybeans,
cotton and corn are transgenic, and of course in Hawaii most of the papayas are transgenic.
Farmers are not coerced they choose to purchase the seed for these crops. Further, in the 18
years since commercialization, there has not been a credible scientific study showing harm
caused by transgenic crops.
I see that this bill closes the door on a valuable tool that might one day play a part in the
preservation of agriculture in Hawaii.
"thank you for considering my testimony,
Michael Shintaku, PhD., and proud alumnus of Kau High School, the University of Hawaii and
Cornell University.
Comm. Q0/ I . Za
Ref. To:_t L
Date ;+"AY 1 4
5/13/2013