Big Green Losers on the Big Island

Syringe CornThe votes are in, and anti-GIF (genetically improved foods) greenies are the biggest losers in the latest Hawaiian election polls. Activists like the “Babes Against Biotech”—a silly name for a silly cause—have fought to ban so-called “GMOs” in the Aloha state county-by-county, claiming massive public support. But a funny thing happened on the way to a supposed organic paradise: The people voted anti-GIF lawmakers off the island in Saturday’s primaries.

Consider, for example, the faceoff between mayoral candidates Dustin Barca and Mayor Bernard Carvalho. Barca is the poster child of Hawaiian anti-GIF advocacy. Carvalho, on the other hand, vetoed an initiative to regulate farm technology, Bill 2491, making him the #1 enemy of Island anti-GIFists.

Carvalho took home 65 percent of the vote. Barca picked up just 35 percent. Pro-GIF candidates also prevailed in several Democratic and County Council primaries, where anti-GIF politicians lost badly.

In a state where biotechnology is credited with saving the $11 million papaya industry, a pro-GIF Hawaii should come as no surprise. But it’s not the first time activists in tinfoil hats have cited imaginary public support to coerce politicians or push wasteful policies out to the public: Just last month, we reported on anti-GIFists in Colorado and Oregon trying to shove anti-scientific GMO labeling down those states’ throats in a ballot measure.

These victories are a rebuttal to the misleading claims and alarmist tactics of Hawaii’s radical green fringe. Evidently, the public does not favor its extremist (and possibly violent) political agenda, and a pro-GIF stance will not hurt the candidacy of a Hawaiian politician. Indeed, if anything, being pro-GIF seems to be earning votes for candidates in the state. Once again, it looks like Big Green fear-mongers have been conjuring up nothing but a bunch of brouhaha—or, perhaps we should we say, a brouha-Hula (cue the snare)—in Hawaii.

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