HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0385.142 2012-2014 Page 1 of 1
Murashige, Laura
From: Geoff Shaw [shaw.geoff5 @gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 11:58 AM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Bill 109 in the Public Safety and Mass Transit Committee
I would like to start off by saying that this is the bill I support the most because it has the strongest
message that we do not support GMO technology on this island. There are a multitude of reasons to be
opposed to GMOs including religious and spiritual considerations, scientific, and probably most of all
economic, but there is really only one reason to support the GMOs and that is the desire to have all of
agriculture controlled by a relatively small entity that can then control all of us, especially the farmers.
That may be a strong statement but it is my observation and unfortunately in many cases my
observations seem to be true. Concerning the GM Papaya farmers, they should apply for grant money to
help fund the reintroduction of traditional crops. One of the unknowns of GMO technology is whether
the genie can be put back in the bottle and our island environment provides the perfect opportunity to
show whether this can be done. If it can't then there should be 100% certainty of their safety before we
continue down this path. When it comes to economics the farming on this island is not the scale that
greatly benefits from the perceived attributes of this technology but we would greatly benefit from the
reputation as the oasis from the technology.
Geoff Shaw from Orchidland Estates in the Puna District
CO C1
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9/3/2013