After having done about as much research about Mauis proposed GMO ban as I have time to do, I have concluded - somewhat to my own surprise - that I would support it. Not by much, and I have some concerns about it, but if I had a vote, I would probably support it. Heres why: I think the Hawaiian Islands are not a good place to do large scale outdoor biological or chemical experiments or testing. These things have to be done, but there are probably better places to do them rather than an island in the middle of the Pacific, where chemicals (such as pesticides) blow and drain into an ocean and an eco-system that is already not in good shape (as I am painfully aware of, mainly due to my scuba diving hobby). In short, it should be done somewhere that is lower risk. (And I am not saying “do it anywhere you want… just not near me….”. I think it could be done in my other home state of Texas, for instance, and I would be fine with that since it seems to me to be a lower risk area). And in large part, despite a confusing name, and despite a lot of misconceptions, and despite a lot of oddities I am (still) worried about, that is what the ban is about. Calling it a GMO ban is silly in my opinion, and it is sad to see that the level of know-how of most people about GMOs, and the available information about it, can only be described as “piss poor”. But at least the wording if the “Maui County Genetically Modified Organism Moratorium Initiative” is such that it attempts to limit the definition of “GMOs” in ways that at least try to single out a specific type of thing (although there is a lot of “including, but not limited to” wording in there, that has me very worried). And it is supposed to be temporary until further testing is concluded. (I am not convinced it will stay temporary, so that is a different story). I will also say that I hope people will really take a look at what these tests produce. There are already tests and conclusions, and those seem to be dismissed by most for varying (and sometimes completely contrary) reasons. I am not sure what the point of tests will be if we then do not trust the outcome of the tests or dismiss them for some kind of conspiratorial nut-job reason. So if that is the angle from which we are coming at this, then it would be outrageous and a complete waste of anyone’s time and effort. It will be an interesting case study, and I hope that I am wrong about my worries about people’s attitudes there. I *do* think that the whole thing should be approached differently! I would like to see a ban on large-scale outdoor biological and chemical experiments on the island(s). Perhaps pesticide use needs to be regulated more (but I am not really sure how much it already is regulated, and who falls under such regulation). And while we are at it, why not include cane-burning and other problematic things? I think banning GMOs (that are passed the test state) is stupid and something that once it is in place, will be hard to revoke and it will be hard to re-establish an investor culture around that. I think it will cost the island(s) jobs. I think Hawaiians will miss out on a lot of opportunities. I really do not like to see this all done under the “GMO” banner, which is why I would be only borderline willing to support this whole thing. In short, if you think that in general, genetic modifications are bad, then you have missed on some fundamentals somewhere. I also find arguments around “modifications that could never happen naturally”, or “cross pollination is a problem”, and so on, to be unconvincing when considered rationally and put in a real world context. (“Your vitamin-A enriched rice has all of a sudden taken over my regular rice field!”…. just seems far fetched. And what if the low-vitamin-A rice takes over the other rice instead? It just all seems to not happen to a point where in the real world, we are worried about that sort of thing. I have never heard of a farmer who – for instance – tried to grow Granny Smith apples, and all of a sudden ended up with a completely different kind of apples due to cross-pollination from neighbors. Why would it happen for GMO then to a point where it would be so different?) So I wish people would educate themselves about genetic engineering a bit more. There is a lot of finger pointing and fear mongering and miss-information. It’s the new thing and hence it seems to be something one just has to be afraid of. Wrong! People have no idea of what it really means and whether there is reason for concern or not. If you are afraid of it because you do not know what it might do, then that is probably a hint that you do not understand it. Genetic engineering is powerful and has a lot of potential. It can be used for good and for bad, like any other powerful technology. But the potential for positives is huge. And especially when I look at an island like Maui, which can currently only produce a small percentage of the food it needs, we should absolutely look at the latest agricultural technologies, including GMO. I also spent time investigating Monsanto. I had previously had a very bad impression of Monsanto. But I discovered that many of the bad things I thought I knew about Monsanto simply weren’t true. I have also learned that Monsanto has won major humanitarian awards. I have learned that philanthropists I respect a lot, and who certainly fall in the categories of “thinkers” and “liberals” and “humanitarians”, are investing into Monsanto due to the potential for positive developments. In short, I was quite surprised that after having done this research, my opinion of Monsanto has considerably improved. I would suggest that people think of the 2 or 3 things they hate the most about Monsanto, and see if they are actually true, because they might come away just as surprised as I was. So that is my conclusion. I am sure there is more research to be done, but I just don’t have that much time. I think all in all, a temporary ban of such experiments is something I can support, but just barely due to the awful “GMO” label attached to all this. I wish this was approached a bit different, and I really am worried about some of the details.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 03:01:46 +0000
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