HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0393.327 2012-2014 Testimony:Bill 113,150CT2013;Steven Jacquier.
I oppose Bill 113[GMO Prohibition Comm 393.621.
I support amendments Comm 393.052; 393.05:&393.054 exempting research&the papaya industry.
As a scientist with decades of field and laboratory research experience all 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 in a
sustainable economy,and
2)corporate shortsightedness&greed can and will screw up any good thing if not actively safeguarded
against by policymakers&enforcers who are well-informed and not venal.
A good example of#1 is in the article on"golden rice" linked below.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/
A ban on GMO research is too blunt and crude an instrument to be usefully constructive and can do harm
instead of 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,I wish my good friends
and neighbors who support this bill were correct about GMO being unnecessary,but I honestly do not think
the evidence supports this conclusion.We probably cannot outrun gene shift in pest populations by
permaculture methods&/or juggling pesticide-herbicide-fungicide-nemacide regimes.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 working alone&unaided when pest populations-including
diseases infecting humans,such as dengue fever-meet food sources unequipped to fend them off.Forget
about Hawaii being competitive economically without GMO,as with papayas.Moreover,we will need
more than good luck with feeding all the hungry children&parents on Oahu if ever we are cut off from
supply lines and on our own out here in the middle of the Pacific for awhile.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 and enforcement.
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 carefully overseerfl
research can continue.We will need it,badly,in years to come.We do not have many fresh new arrows-in
our quiver when it comes to dealing with malnutrition,disease,and finding healthy alternatives to °J
petrochemical-based agricultural chemicals.Research performed on Hawaii benefits poor populations tri'
developing nations around the planet.
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Thank you. -
T�
Steven Jacquier �•"� r.. •
--13-3829 Ala Ili Road
Pahoa,HI 96778-1256
Comm. No. 3 93• 3.2 7
Ref.To: PlCou�ti�
Ref.Date OCT 15 2013