Next year will be 13 years. For 13 years, I woke up every day and fought Monsanto (and the chem companies Syngenta, DOW, DuPont, etc.) to protect our islands and the world from the impacts of their toxic products.
I, and many others, have fought the biggest chemical companies in the world, day in and day out, for disclosure, for buffer zones, for truth and justice. Time and time again I have come across reports of the crimes against life committed by these companies from rivers, to grasslands, to rainforests. From Anniston, Ala., to South America, to Africa and Asia and everything in between, the impacts of these corporations are prevalent. They ooze corruption and corporate profit on the backs of minorities and precious environments. They find loopholes and exemptions and foolish politicians to do their dirty work.
Over the last 13 years of working on this issue, we have had wins and we have had losses. We have overcome incredible odds, passed bold county laws only to be blocked in legislative and political jargon by well-paid lawyers and propaganda that benefits corporations, not people.
We have a long way to go. The companies have in some areas on Kauai voluntarily backed off our schools and homes. This is not the case on beautiful Molokai. We now have a ban on chlorpyrifos that’s being phased in and a start to a disclosure system after the passing of Act 45. It’s a step in the right direction but our communities deserve more.
The reality is these chemical corporations continue to experiment with pesticides in our backyards. One of no doubt many violations by Monsanto’s Maui facility is coming to light. This is only the tip of the iceberg and there is a lot we will never know about what they exposed our kids and communities to over decades. Without a clear public-mandated disclosure system and historical disclosure, there will never be transparency or any real truth about what they have exposed us to.
We will continue to fight for public notice and disclosure, stronger buffer zones, bans on known highly toxic pesticides, and accountability for the impacts of this chemical industry on our sensitive island ecosystems.
To every single county council member, state and federal representative, and decision-maker who knowingly and intentionally protects these corporations and to all of you who for years fought against our efforts to buffer our children and protect our environment, your time to step aside is now. The future is here and we are going to hold the chemical corporations accountable, and you with them. We will hold you accountable not just for what you did to our people, but for what you did to our environment and the degradation you leave behind.
Every day we will continue fighting for the protection of the community and home that we love, for the workers in these fields, for the children in schools nearby, and for the environment that we are intrinsically connected.
Research the possibilities. Watch the documentary, “Poisoning Paradise.” Reevaluate our essential priorities for survival as the most remote island chain in the world and a hotspot for extinction. Join us in 2020 as we work to return to a sustainable native land management system for Hawaii and transition our agriculture industry into a model that will feed our people, not poison them.
Fern Anuenue Holland, a marine biologist and environmental scientist, is a cofounder of ‘Ohana O Kauai.
