6,740 Demand Senate Rescind Monsanto Lobbyist Appointment

Hawaii State Senate President Donna Mercado Kim appointed Alan Takemoto, the Monsanto lobbyist, to be on the nominating committee which picks the candidates for our water commission.
Monsanto is a controversial company that is using our islands as a testing ground for its new pesticides and GMO science experiments—because we’re in the middle of the Pacific ocean in case something goes terribly wrong.
Tasting Kauai wants Sen. Kim, to rescind his appointment of Monsanto lobbyist Alan Takemoto, and appoint someone who has the best interests of the Hawaii citizens as his priority.
On Thursday at 3 p.m., organizers will deliver a petition asking Senate President Donna Mercado Kim to rescind her appointment of Monsanto Lobbyist, Alan Takemoto, to the Water Commission nominating committee.
The appointment of an employee of the controversial Monsanto corporation angered organizers who point out that Monsanto has been turned down twice for bigger shares of Oahu and Maui water allotments. Organizers are concerned that another pro-Monsanto Water Commissioner could tip the balance of power towards Monsanto next time they ask for a bigger water allotment.
“It is inexplicable that with respected UH professors, literally hundreds of trained geologists and watershed experts, that the Senate would appoint a partisan multinational corporate lobbyist instead,” said organizer, Karen Chun. “Here on Maui we have rationing and our county controls only about 9 percent of our water with a lion’s share being taken by large agricultural corporations like Monsanto. Ag corporations know how to use water – they are not experts in the skills required to manage and protect water supplies.”
Nomi Kaheaonalani Carmona, who will present the petition added, “Our ethics laws need strengthening. It is beyond belief that a corporate representative with a clear agenda of wanting more water would have a voice in who serves on the Water Commission. What was the Senate thinking?”
Click here if you would like to sign the Rescind Monsanto Lobbyist Appointment to Water Commission Nomination Committee petition.