HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0393.122 2012-2014 Murashige, Laura
From: J Yoshimoto [Yoshimoto @co.hawaii.hi.us]
Sent: Monday, October 14, 2013 10:52 AM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: FW: Please support GMO research & oppose hydraulic fracturing.
Original Message
From: Steven Jacquier [mailto:stevenjacquier @gmail.com]
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Sent: Monday, October 14, 2013 10:14 AM -':O
To: J Yoshimoto
Subject: Please support GMO research & oppose hydraulic fracturing. r
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Hello Councilman Yoshimoto W
As a scientist with decades of field and laboratory research experience all co. --
over the planet it is my sense we can definitely count on two points
regarding GMO:
1) there is a solidly constructive role for this technology in improving the
quality of our lives and economy, and
2) corporate shortsightedness & greed can and will screw up any good thing
if not actively safeguarded against by policymakers who are well-informed
and not venal.
As a good example of #1, please see the article linked below on "golden
rice. " I have visited villages in Nepal, Indonesia, Ecuador, and so on in
which I met many children (and the adults some of them become) suffering
severe visual impairment & blindness because of vitamin A deficiency. This
crippling blindness is totally avoidable. As you probably know, carrots and
suchlike do not tend to grow well in the tropics, being generally beset with
fungi & pests in warm moist environments, but splicing a carrot gene into
locally grown rice totally transforms the situation. This is a laudable and
appropriate application of GMO technology.
http: //grist.org/food/golden-rice-fools-gold-or-golden-opportunity/
As an apt example of #2, look at geothermal in Puna. In and of itself
geothermal energy production can be a good thing all around but not in lava
zone 1 and 2, not with hydraulic fracturing using huge quantities of toxic
solutions injected down into hot porous strata. Even so, if big money can be
scooped up by corporate interests on the front end and local peons/taxpayers
left with the health damage, mess, and superfund cleanup site afterward,
well, then it is business as per usual for the multinationals running the
local shell companies. As Mitt Romney famously said, "Corporations are
people, my friend" -yet if so they are people without conscience and without
regard for future generations, based on consistent results. Short-term
monetary gain should not trump reason and regard for the well-being of
future generations.
Thank you for voting yes on the first reading of Bill 129. This is real
progress for which future generations will revere instead of revile you.
Please do not allow this bill to become diluted down with amendments
weakening the spirit and intent. BTW, I hold forth on all this for a couple
of minutes in this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om2DNe4Ez84
By contrast, my perspective is a ban on GMO is too blunt and crude an 3 93 •!'1
instrument to be usefully constructive. It can do great damage instead ofComm. No.
1 Ref.To: P I CO Urfa/
Ref. Date OCT 15 2013
good. Corporate misuse of GMO technology should be assumed and so guarded
against, not being allowed to run amok as well it might without oversight
and restraint, but there is great potential for healthier and more
prosperous communities via judicious use of GMO tech. Alas, those who think
we can outrun gene shift in pest populations by permaculture methods &/or
juggling pesticide/herbicide/fungicide/nemacide regimes alone are almost
certainly in for a big disappointment. There are too many invasive species
reaching the islands all the time from all over the planet. Millions of
years of evolution are not accomplished overnight by natural selection alone
& unaided when pest populations -and diseases which infect humans, such as
dengue fever- meet food sources unequipped to fend them off. Forget about
Hawaii being competitive economically without GMO. Moreoever, we will need
more than good luck with feeding all the hungry children & parents on Oahu
if we are ever cut off on our own out here in the middle of the Pacific for
awhile (please let me know if you want me to send you a brief yet trenchant
commentary by Johannes about our situation in that context) . To deprive
ourselves of this important tool is like trying to run a race with one leg
and arm tied one' s back. A better approach is to use GMO tech carefully,
with real oversight.
I support Comm. 393 .052 Amendment to Bill 113, allowing GMO research and
cultivation by universities and government agencies. If for reasons of
political pressure you must pass Bill 113 even though it is a bad idea in
the overall, then please at least make the compromise of adding the Comm.
393 . 052 Amendment so that carefully overseen research can continue. We will
need it, badly, in years to come.
If there were no solar & biofuell energy options available to wean us away
from petrochemical dependence then we would be fools to not develop
geothermal energy here even given the obvious large risks. The fact is,
though, that not only are the positives for solar and biofuels enormous for
the Big Island but the negatives on those are very small indeed. By
contrast, we do not have many fresh new arrows in our quiver when it comes
to dealing with malnutrition, disease, and finding healthy alternatives to
petrochemical-based agricultural chemicals. Research performed on Hawaii
benefits poor populations in developing nations around the planet. It is
shortsightedly unconstructive to ban GMO research. Please do study up on
this issue and carefully consider your vote. It is the responsibility of
leaders to actually lead, not just take the popular position.
Sincerely,
Steven Jacquier
13-3829 Ala Ili Road,
Pahoa, HI, 96778-1256
Tidbits du
Jour
Nina Paley' s music video "All Creative Work Is Derivative"
http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcvd5JZkUXY&list=FLP7Vhr8C1-hS6BNSE3s6sMw&ind
ex=57&feature=plpp_video
. . .with illustrated details on how this clever animation was made at:
http: //questioncopyright.org/minute_memes/all_creative_work_is_derivative
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"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired
signifies, in the final sense,
a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are
not clothed. This world
in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its
laborers, the genius of its scientists,
the hopes of its children. " - Dwight D.
Eisenhower
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