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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0385.052 2012-2014 Page 1 of 1 Murashige, Laura From: Eric Weinert [ericdrakeweinert @gmail.com] Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 6:55 AM To: counciltestimony©co.hawaii.hi.us Subject: Against Bills 109 &113 Testimony Against Bills 109 & 113 The hardworking men and women in the papaya industry, who pay their taxes and go to work each day, demand that each Council Person voting for these Bills publicly state during debate whether they think GMO papayas are safe. I asked both Margaret Wille and Zendo Kern, and neither were able to tell me straight up that they thought Hawaii's GMO papaya was safe. This is important because if this Council passes any anti-GMO without endorsing the safety of Hawaii's GMO papaya, the public will assume there is something wrong with our papaya. This is why any exemption for papaya in Bill 113 is meaningless. Without a clear statement endorsing the safety of Hawaii GMO papaya, our markets will be harmed and our industry destroyed. People say there must be something wrong with GMOs because they are banned in Europe. Yet, the politicians there passed the legislation over the objection of the scientists of the European Union, The public here too will assume something must be wrong with our papaya when a group of politicians, none of whom are qualified to judge its safety, pass anti-GMO legislation, and ignore the unanimous consensus of all the scientific organizations in the USA and world - over 100 of them- that GMOs are safe. Typical of the these authoritative scientific bodies, the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, an organization of scientists dedicated to truth in science says, "The science is quite clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe." Again, we demand each Council person clearly state for the public record, if GMO papaya is safe an why. Eric Weinert r-� c) Eric Weinert -- �- ri Comm. No. 38'54 .5.2 Ref. To: P//ESN TG Ref. Date SEP 04 2013 9/3/2013