I am speaking from personal experience from back in the 2008 when he was Chairman of the Hawaii Senate Health Committee. In that position, he killed a bill to ban aspartame that had been signed as cosponsors by 14 of his fellow 24 other Senators by simply not scheduling. Such services can be rewarded by maneuvering politically the kind of political vacuum that led to his Governorship.
The key to advancing such legislation, to protect Hawaiians, it seems to me, is 46 year old State Senator Josh Green, an Emergency Room physician from the North Kona coast, who, quite logically, because he is the only physician in the Hawaii Legislature, is now the Chairman of the Senate Health Committee.
I call upon him personally in this article to take the real lead in what would now be a remedial legislative effort.
The court ruled that Hawaii's county governments have no authority to regulate or ban GM crops unlike in other states. In Hawaii, such authority rests with the state alone due to existing state legislation on the matter.
Quoting from Whitney Webb's article in Mint News:
"Earth Justice attorney Paul Achitoff expressed his disappointment with the court's 'misinterpretation' of Hawaii law, saying that 'the decision leaves Hawaii unprotected from the harms the Ninth Circuit acknowledged. We believe that when Hawaii's state courts have an opportunity, they will reject the Ninth Circuit's conclusion on this point and allow Hawaii's people to protect themselves, since the State certainly hasn't protected them."
The court ruled that only the US Department of Agriculture can regulate field trials and experimental GM crops, which never state or local governments can ban or regulate. This will be yet another blow to Hawaii's communities who have fought for years to regulate experimental pesticide use throughout the islands, and this might be the substance of other appeals to the Supreme Court by Hawaiians themselves, not the corporations.
In a comment prepared for this article by Dr. Betty Martini, the preeminent aspartame opponent stated:
"Remember the patent shows aspartame to be a GMO product. In fact, I sent the formula to the UK publication, the Independent, and they published it on the front page over a royal wedding!"
click here to read article in the Independent
It is so poisonous it travels by Hazmat Placard. It is adulterated and violates interstate commerce laws. Before the Augusta, Georgia plant closed one employee called very sick years ago, I asked him back then how they made it and he said, 'I don't know lady, all we have down here is toxic waste and people who work here are ill.'
Some other news coverage of prior decisions that are apparently contravened by this mid December decision:
In November 2016, Honolulu's Star-Advertiser reported that 'biotech companies operating in Hawaii scored a major victory Friday when a federal appeals court threw out ordinances on Kauai, Hawaii island and Maui that banned or restricted the cultivation of genetically modified crops and sought greater regulation over pesticides.
Monsanto, Syngenta and other seed companies that farm in Hawaii won a significant victory after a federal appeals court ruled that counties can't regulate pesticides or genetically modified crops (in Hawaii's Civil Beat)
A federal judge has ruled that three Hawaii counties can't enact their own bans or regulations on genetically modified crops and pesticides, handing a victory to the major agriculture companies that fought the regulations. (Associated Press).
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that three Hawaii counties cannot regulate genetically modified crops or pesticides. (Pacific Business News)
A partial ban on growing genetically modified crops in Hawaii County will remain invalid following a ruling Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals. (Tribune-Herald)
A federal appeals court has sided with supporters of GMO, or genetically modified organisms, by affirming an earlier district court ruling in their favor (Big Island Video News)
Hawaii counties and cities don't have the authority to regulate genetically engineered crops and pesticide use, according to a decision handed down Friday from the U.S. Court of Appeals (Garden Island)
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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