Hawai’i Will Become First State in USA to Ban Toxic Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Robust People-Powered Effort Pressures Lawmakers to Pass Historic Pesticide Bill That Includes Buffer Zones & Disclosure

Posted by - April 30, 2018

In a victory for people power, Hawai’i is about to become the first state in the nation to ban the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos. The ban is part of a historic new pesticide regulation bill that had already passed the House, and on Friday, April 27, passed the Senate Conference Committee. The bill, after enormous opposition from

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Water Is Life

Massive A&B Corporate Water Theft Faces Public Comment In Maui The aqueduct system and corporate water giveaway are rooted in century-old plantation-era water contracts

Posted by - February 23, 2017

On February 22 and 23, 2017,  Maui citizens will have a chance to speak out against a 30-year extension of a rigged plantation-era water system that for more than a century has diverted the majority of all the water from vibrant streams on the island to benefit the Alexander & Baldwin Corporation for less than

Water Is Life
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Passage of Amendment 12 Scores Historic Win for Maui Water Rights For years plantation owner Alexander & Baldwin paid almost nothing to use majority of island’s water

Posted by - March 28, 2023

With the historic November 2022 passage of Charter Amendment 12, establishing the East Maui Community Water Authority, there is hope, for the first time in 145 years, that the people of  Maui will finally gain control over the island’s largest public water source.  “The water leases are up for grabs, and the DLNR (Department of Land

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Endorsement: Yes on 12 & ‘Onipa‘a 2022 Candidates Vote to stop development money from buying control of Maui's County Council

Posted by - October 28, 2022

View the Maui Independent’s video endorsement, narrated by Alika Atay, or read the text version of the commentary below. Corporate America has a vision for Maui’s future. It is the same vision they have had for 130 years. It is a vision of ruthlessly exploiting our island’s bountiful environment and hard working people for their

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Betrayers of Maui Democracy Ask Voters to Re-Elect Them This November Arakawa, Victorino, Crivello, and Hokama Enabled Monsanto’s Historic Theft of Voter-Approved GMO Moratorium

Posted by - October 25, 2018

The public initiative system is a unique and magnificent tool for grassroots democracy. Four years ago, Maui’s GMO Moratorium made history in a number of significant ways. First, it made local history by becoming the first public initiative effort in Maui history to get on the ballot. It did this through the hard work of

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Hawai’i Will Become First State in USA to Ban Toxic Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Robust People-Powered Effort Pressures Lawmakers to Pass Historic Pesticide Bill That Includes Buffer Zones & Disclosure

Posted by - April 30, 2018

In a victory for people power, Hawai’i is about to become the first state in the nation to ban the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos. The ban is part of a historic new pesticide regulation bill that had already passed the House, and on Friday, April 27, passed the Senate Conference Committee. The bill, after enormous opposition from

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Landmark Case Puts Cancer Risk of Monsanto’s Roundup on Trial For The First Time in US Courtroom, Renowned Health Experts Link Popular Pesticide to Cancer

Posted by - March 14, 2018

The most heavily used chemical weed killer in human history has been declared carcinogenic by a team of health experts testifying last week in San Francisco’s U.S. District Court. While government agencies have declared Roundup safe, based on corrupt science and flawed analysis (often drawing from Monsanto-funded studies), a lawsuit on behalf of farm workers

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Maui County Council’s Proposed 2018 Budget Supports Tourism, Stiffs Locals Testify This Week or Call Budget Chair Hokama at 270-7768 to Express Yourself

Posted by - April 26, 2017

There was a character in a William Faulkner novel who learned early in life “that words go up in the air in a column of thin smoke, but doing goes along the ground.” The Maui County Council’s old guard talks about issues affecting residents: affordable housing and “solving the workforce housing crisis”, homelessness, water quality

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Just Say No To Roz Baker Ignore Her Ads: Her Record as a Backroom Booster of Pesticide Conglomerates Has Been Disgraceful

Posted by - August 6, 2018

Almost Orwellian in its doublespeak deception, Maui Senator Roz Baker’s latest campaign ad promotes her as a champion of ‘aina protection. “From protecting our reefs from harmful sunscreens to creating pesticide free zones around our schools, Roz fights from the heart to save the ‘aina,” it reads. The truth? While she has taken credit for

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New Harmful Pesticide Bills Offer Hawai’i Hope The Battle Against Toxic Pesticides Has Met With Little Legislative Action Until Now

Posted by - February 27, 2018

    The fight against the harmful use of pesticides in Hawai’i has been a slow and strenuous battle. From birth defects reported on Kaua’i to the federal court overruling the SHAKA Movement-lead GMO moratorium, the battle against pesticides has been met with little, or at least not sufficient, legislative action. But, as of this

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New Documentary Exposes Devastating Impact of Pesticides on Kauai “Poisoning Paradise” screens at the Maui Film Festival on June 23

Posted by - June 15, 2017

The devastating impact of pesticide poisoning on Kauai by the agro-chemical industry is highlighted in the groundbreaking documentary “Poisoning Paradise,” screening at the Maui Film Festival on June 23, at 10 p.m. at the Celestial Cinema in Wailea. Award-winning investigative journalist Paul Koberstein describes Kauai as, “one of the most toxic agricultural environments in all

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The Poisoning of Democracy: Backroom Torpedoes Sink State Pesticide Law Pesticide Industry Asserts Backroom Power to Stop Common Sense Public Health Disclosure Law by State Legislature

Posted by - April 18, 2017

The 2017 Hawaii State Legislature deserves an “F” for failing to regulate in any way whatsoever Hawaii’s largest users of Restricted Use Pesticides (RUP). Most egregiously they failed to step up and ban chlorpyrifos, a known neurotoxin used widely to kill insects on the genetically engineered cornfields located on Molokai, Kauai, Maui, and  the north

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