Syngenta asserts that it wasn’t pesticide spraying on a field adjacent to Waimea Canyon Middle School on Kaua’i that caused students and teachers to complain of dizziness, nausea and breathing difficulties in January 2008.
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=3095&year=2018
If Catholic teaching on stewardship of the planet matters to you, supporting SB 3095 would be a practical expression of that faith.
Below are excerpts from http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/care-for-creation.cfm
“We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.”
“A true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. . . . Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society. “(Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home [Laudato Si’. . . ],nos. 49, 91)
“Affordable” Kamalani homes in Kihei that come with a contract that indemnifies the seller from lawsuits over health issues arising from the chemicals in the surrounding land, water, air from “agricultural activities.” Image courtesy of Vernon Kalanikau.
The notion of the common good also extends to future generations. The global economic crises have made painfully obvious the detrimental effects of disregarding our common destiny, which cannot exclude those who come after us. We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity. Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others. Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us. (Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home [Laudato Si’. . . ], no. 159)
“When it comes to the natural world, we are subject not only to biological laws but also to moral ones, which cannot be violated with impunity. A true concept of development cannot ignore the use of the elements of nature, the renewability of resources and the consequences of haphazard industrialization – three considerations which alert our consciences to the moral dimension of development.” (St. John Paul II, On Social Concerns [Sollicitudo rei Socialis. . . ], no. 34).
by Sunday Feb 11. Hearing is on Monday at 1:20PM in conference room 224.
Would-be buyers of some “affordable” homes have to sign contracts with this kind of language. Image courtesy of Tina Wildberger.
Dawn Morais 
Syngenta products are a menace