Vote --- YES > MAYOR ALAN ARAKAWA > VOTER INITIATIVE: GMO Engineered Organisms Maui No Ka Oi --- Maui is the Best Keep Maui The Best --- The Best Place in the World to Live, Work, Play and Raise Families …

1. Clifton M. Hasegawa
President and CEO
Clifton M. Hasegawa & Associates, LLC
1044 Kilani Avenue 12
Wahiawa, Hawai`i 96786-2243
Direct: 808.498.8408
Email: clifhasegawa@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliftonhasegawa
VIA EMAIL
September 27, 2014
The Honorable Alan Arakawa
Mayor, County of Maui
Kalana O Maui Building - 9th Floor
200 South High Street
Wailuku, Maui, Hawai`i 96793
RE: 2014 General Election - Maui County Voter Initiative:
Genetically Engineered Organisms
Dear Mayor Arakawa:
Your approval and endorsement of the Maui County Voter Initiative:
Genetically Engineered Organisms on the 2014 General Election Ballot is
confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the USDA
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and is affirmed by the
Society of Toxicology (SOT) and the College of Tropical Agriculture (CTHR) at
the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa.

2. SOCIETY OF TOXICOLOGY (SOT)
“The Society of Toxicology (SOT) is committed to protecting and
enhancing human, animal, and environmental health through the sound
application of the fundamental principles of the science of toxicology.
The available scientific evidence indicates that the potential adverse health
effects arising from biotechnology-derived foods are not different in nature from
those created by conventional breeding practices for plant, animal, or microbial
enhancement, and are already familiar to toxicologists. It is therefore important
to recognize that the food product itself, rather than the process through which it
is made, should be the focus of attention in assessing safety.
We support the use of the substantial equivalence concept as part of the safety
assessment of biotechnology-derived foods. This process establishes whether the
new plant or animal is significantly different from comparable, nonengineered
plants or animals used to produce food that is generally considered to be safe for
consumers.
Assessing safety may be more difficult in the future if genetic engineering
projects cause more substantial and complex changes in a foodstuff. Methods
have not yet been developed with which whole foods (in contrast to single
chemical components) can be fully evaluated for safety.
A continuing evolution of toxicological methodologies and regulatory strategies
will be necessary to ensure that the present level of safety of biotechnology-derived
foods is maintained in the future.”
SOURCE: Society of Toxicology.
http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/content/71/1/2.full

3. COLLEGE OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (CTAHR) AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF HAWAI`I AT MĀNOA
“Aspects of the U.S. regulatory framework are controversial, and many
other nations have more restrictive policies. Whether a person feels that the U.S.
approach to regulating GMOs is too permissive, too restrictive, or appropriate
often reflects his or her interpretation of the risks and benefits associated with
GM crops. [Emphasis Supplied]
RoundUp Ready® (RR) crops and other herbicide-resistant GM crops have
increased the use of no-till agriculture, which conserves topsoil and soil
structure. Since weeds can be sprayed after RR crops are planted, farmers do not
need to plow before planting saving labor, energy and topsoil.
These benefits may not last. If a field is sprayed every season, or repeatedly
within a season, with the same herbicide, weeds that are slightly less susceptible
to the herbicide may survive and possibly breed with other survivors. Over
generations of weeds, the herbicide thus selects for greater and greater resistance
to the herbicide, until the product becomes ineffective against that population,
and is replaced or supplemented with other herbicides. In the case of glyphosate,
the replacement herbicides are typically more toxic. In the United States, at least
14 weed species have evolved glyphosate resistance.
The development of weeds resistant to glyphosate and insects resistant to Bt has
not involved the movement of genes from crop plants to weeds or insects;
instead, pests have naturally evolved their own resistance traits. This is a
common phenomenon – many pests have evolved resistance to many pesticides
over the years. For example, weeds have developed resistance to 22 of the 25
known sites of herbicides action and to 155 different herbicides including
glyphosate.
Science, agricultural economics, and public policy will shape what contributions
GM crops can make to sustainable farming. Various GM crops are currently
being developed to address environmental challenges with higher temperatures
and reduced water availability. New and improved varieties are crucial as the
world’s population approaches 9 billion people by 2040. GM traits such as
drought resistance and increased yields may help maintain levels of agricultural
production without having to exponentially expand the acreage under
cultivation.

4. Planting herbicide resistant and Bt GM crops has yielded specific environmental
benefits, in addition to reduced costs and energy needs. Ultimately, to evaluate
these crops, we should consider their net environmental impacts. Do the
benefits outweigh the impacts?” [Emphasis Supplied]
SOURCES: CTAHR.
1. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/biotechinfocus/images/bulletinpdf/Bulletin_Issue8.pdf
2. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/biotechinfocus/images/bulletinpdf/Bulletin_Issue14.pdf
“Responsible scientists, farmers, food manufacturers, and policy makers
recognize that the use of transgenic organisms should be considered very
carefully to ensure that they pose no environmental and health risks, or at least
no more than the use of current crops and practices. Modern biotechnology
represents unique applications of science that can be used for the betterment of
society through development of crops with improved nutritional quality,
resistance to pests and diseases, and reduced cost of production. Biotechnology,
in the form of genetic engineering, is a facet of science that has the potential to
provide important benefits if used carefully and ethically. Society should be
provided with a balanced view of the fundamentals of biotechnology and genetic
engineering, the processes used in developing transgenic organism, the types of
genetic material used, and the benefits and risks of the new technology.”
SOURCE: Wieczorek, A. Use of Biotechnology in Agriculture --- Benefits and
Risks. University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, College of Tropical Agriculture, Department of
Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/BIO-3.pdf
MAUI
The residents of Maui by their votes on the Voter Initiative: Genetically
Engineered Organisms will decide whether Maui is The Best Island in the World,
the shining star and beacon of environmental leadership, stewardship and
sustainability for Hawaii County, Kauai County, the City & County of Honolulu,
the 49 states of the United States of America and the World.

5. Thank you, Mayor Arakawa for your advocacy and vision of empowering
the residents of Maui to share their wisdom, to become active participants in the
governance and stewardship of Maui County and to have vital and
unprecedented roles to be involved in shaping and determining their path for
today, tomorrow and for their future.
Please accept my personal, sincerest and humblest gratitude for taking a
firm, unequivocal and affirmative stance on this sensitive, controversial and
thorny issue.
Leadership is the loneliest place as decisions you alone make have a firm
and lasting imprint and impact on the well-being of Maui County and the
continued health, vitality and vibrancy of the People of Maui County.
Respectfully,
Electronically Signed
Clifton M. Hasegawa