APRIL 22, 2014

GMO Update: Alaskans Have a Right to Know

Rep. Tarr and U.S. Senator Mark Begich show their support for Alaskans’ right to know and Rep. Tarr’s GMO Labeling bill during Senator Begich’s visit to the Capitol.

House Bill 215, by Rep. Tarr, supports Alaskans’ right to know what’s in their food by requiring labeling on products consisting of or made with genetically modified ingredients. 76% of corn crops and 93% of soybean crops grown in the U.S. have been genetically modified. These crops are main ingredients in the vast majority of processed food products distributed in the United States. As individuals, everyone should have the right to choose whether or not they consume these products. However, in order to make such a decision, they must have the information necessary to make the choice. Labeling ensures that Alaskans maintain the right to know what is in their food.

House Bill 238 would increases the Alaska Grown purchase preference by municipalities, the state, and school districts from its current 7% to 12% for agriculture and fisheries products. Alaskans spend $2.5 billion on food annually, and other Alaskans should benefit from this revenue to increase our economic sustainability. Increasing in-state purchasing would encourage farmers to invest in their farms, pull in younger generations, and help overcome the hurdle of increasing fuel costs. Furthermore, Alaska grown foods are fresher, travel fewer miles, and put money back into local economies. There are fewer diseases and crop pests in Alaska, meaning that local foods have fewer chemical contaminants, and other countries favor Alaska grown food because of this.

House Bill 249 would prohibit the use of genetically engineered seeds or plants to produce or grow agricultural products intended for sale. Protecting Alaskans against harmful GMOs will be beneficial for not only Alaska’s health, but also the health of our farming economy. GMO crops and the associated pesticides can create “super weeds” or “super bugs” that are then more resistant to conventional pest control. This leads to increasingly toxic poisons, thus leading to more resistant pests and a vicious cycle. HB 249 would stop the cycle before it even begins.

Banning Neonicotinoid Pesticides

Native bees, imported honeybees and other pollinators are crucial for Alaska’s food production. However, there is a relatively new class of pesticide, neonicotinoids, known to be harmful to those animals. House Bill 224, by Rep. Harriet Drummond, would limit the use of neonicotinoid pesticides to only be used on crops housed entirely within a greenhouse.

Neonicotinoids are considered a significant factor in the global decline in the bee population over the past decade. Research shows that not only does the insecticide kill bees outright, in low levels it can impair bees’ ability to find their way back to the hive, collect food, produce new queens, and mount an effective immune response. Over two-thirds of the farmers involved with the Alaska Grown program grow crops that depend on bees for pollination and Alaska has 49 different species of bees. The bill aims to prevent the spread of these pesticides which decimate bee populations before they impact Alaskan agriculture.

Children’s Health

House Bill 348, sponsored by Rep. Tarr, and Senate Bill 151, sponsored by Sen. Olson, would ban the sale of children’s products which contain toxic flame retardants known as “Tris.” Many furniture and baby product manufacturers use Tris to meet flammability standards, despite the high chances that young children will grab and chew on the products. Exposure to Tris is associated with learning disabilities, reproductive problems, and cancer. Tris was banned from children’s sleepwear back in 1977 because it was a probable human carcinogen, yet no other products have been included in the ban since then. Developing children are particularly susceptible to toxins and Alaska must join with other states in stepping forward to protect them when there is federal inaction.

New Study Shows that Autism May be Linked to Environmental Causes:

University of Chicago researchers conducted a study based on medical records collected from more than 100 million people in the United States. The results strongly indicated that environmental factors play a role in causing autism. The researchers found a correlation between the rise in autism rates and the increase in frequency of congenital malformations.

After adjusting for gender, ethnic, socioeconomic and geopolitical factors, they concluded that the association indicates that both autism and congenital malformations may be caused by exposure to harmful environmental factors during congenital development. This exposure occurs during pregnancy, when the fetus is vulnerable to its mother’s exposure to pesticides, prescription drugs, and other potential hazards.

“The takeaway is that the environment may play a very significant role in autism, and we should be paying more attention to it,” [author Andrey Rzhetsky, a professor of genetic medicine and human genetics at the University of Chicago] said. “It really shifts the emphasis from genetics to more of an environmental side. We should definitely take into account environmental factors.”

Good News: Your Voices Make a Difference

Ensuring Healthy Salmon Streams – House Bill 77 Dies in Committee

House Bill 77 would significantly reduce protection for fish, clean water, and wildlife. Enacting this bill would trade lasting salmon protection by reserving in-stream water for faster development permitting and less public notice and review. The Alaska Constitution reserves our natural resources “to the people for common use.” Development should only proceed when it benefits the people of the state, and fast-tracking development harms healthy salmon streams.

Critics quickly began calling out that the bill was intended to silence Alaskans and began a grassroots effort in opposition. After 1,500 letters and six hours of testimony from citizens, Senator Cathy Giessel decided to let H.B. 77 die in the Senate Resources Committee. The Senator said that she could not justify spending more time on this legislation when constituents clearly had so many concerns about the bill that had not been resolved.

Please take a moment to congratulate yourselves and your fellow citizens for taking this initiative and ensuring that the Legislature hears your voices.

Sincerely,

Representative Geran Tarr