Ive been left so speechless by the political fiasco that unfolded relating to bill 2491 (now ordinance 960) and its passing. Especially the recent announcement of the attempt to repeal. Ive been struggling for days to put much together in my head and in writing. Its incredible when you think about it, all the accusations, all the claims of division, the fear, the mongering, the political backlash and the millions and millions in campaign funding... all because we asked a simple question. What are they spraying? What is running off these properties into the surrounding environment, what is leaching in the air, water and soil, into our people and our homes? We have clearly presented adequate science, evidence and concerns about the use of our agricultural lands by chemical experimentation and research and the impacts it could be having to non-target communities, organisms and environments. We even managed someone in politics to hear us, and Council Members Gary Hooser & Tim Bynum drafted and introduced Bill 2491 to address it and get the answers the community needs. Its reasonable and practical and provides little more than basic answers, arguably insufficient buffer zones and a health and environmental study. It was basically a big public question to satisfy a growing percent of the county who had concerns. Somehow we were met with firewall opposition and a blackout response from these international chemical corporations experimenting in our county. Not only do they deny us the basic information we seek, but they infiltrate and twist the political process and the community to create fear and distortion of the bill and we endure days and weeks of testimonies and hearings only to succeed in passing the bill. Only to be followed by a non-negotiable veto by Mayor Carvalho. We took it back to the council and succeeded in an veto override! What a marathon! In a matter of weeks we were being sued by the largest chemical corporations in the world because we beat them. We succeeded in passing the bill so in Syngenta et all Vs the County of Kauai we are being told we succeeded in passing something that we just didnt have the right to pass. Its because they have nothing left to stand on, and to top it off in their own data they have admitted they use a toxic range of experimental pesticides at levels up to 10x national averages. They have still refused to release the details of their experimental pesticide permits to the county. Clearly we are only following the our responsibility as a county, outlined in the state constitution, to protect the health and life of our community. Our pesty little county hey? How dare we ask what you spray to the boundaries of our homes and schools, how dare we question your experiments? Hogwash. We will question and question until our answers are clear, our community is safe and our agricultural lands preserved for use of future generations. As the court battle rages on to #defendkauai and our right to pass bill 2491 and protect our community, just days before the election and scheduled for the day after it, Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa introduce a repeal. A repeal of the last 2 years of work by community, with thousands showing up in the streets, multiple times. A repeal of all these grassroots efforts ignited with the desire to improve and protect their families, community and home. So now what, we return to the council and rally again? We take time off work, re-arrange our lives, and get back down there to testify and oppose a repeal? I took close to six months off during the passing of 2491. Is that what it takes?
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 22:37:25 +0000
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