Last week, Hawai‛i counties were back in court to defend their right to protect themselves from genetically engineered (GE) crops and the harmful pesticides that they’re modified to withstand. At stake is whether communities have a say over what goes on in their own backyards. But the Big Ag industry would have you believe these cases are about protecting upstanding companies from hostile anti-GE activists and their senseless acts of vandalism.

Before we get to that ridiculous notion, why has the GE debate landed in Hawai‛i in the first place? Even though most people know the Aloha State for its beautiful beaches, world-class surfing and delicious Kona coffee, the islands are also ground zero for GE crops. Hawai‛i’s year-round warm weather is attractive to beachgoers—and to agricultural companies that like to plant experimental crops as many times a year as possible. Today, Hawaiʻi has more experimental field trials of GE crops than any other state in the nation.

While the debate over whether GE foods are safe to eat rages on across the country, Hawaiʻi’s people are experiencing firsthand the deleterious environmental and health effects of GE crops and their pesticide counterparts. In Kauaʻi, for example, there have been several instances of schoolchildren and other residents suffering symptoms of pesticide exposure after GE crops were sprayed with toxic chemicals like the pesticide chlorpyrifos, a potent neurotoxin.

Despite their ongoing threat, Hawaiʻi’s authorities have dragged their heels on regulating GE crops. A few years back, the counties stepped in, with Kaua‘i, Maui and Hawai‘i all approving ordinances to help rein in GE crops.

• On Kaua‘i, legislators passed an ordinance requiring large agricultural users of restricted use pesticides to disclose what they spray, notify before they spray and not spray near sensitive areas, like schools and waterways. It also requires growers of GE crops to disclose after the fact what they grew, and where.
• On Hawai‘i, the only major island that has not seen significant incursions by the genetic engineering industry, the county passed a moratorium on expansion of GE crops, except for papaya.
• In Maui County, where fields of GE crops also are widespread (especially on rural Moloka‘i), residents gathered thousands of signatures and passed an initiative that puts a moratorium on the cultivation of GE crops.

After the ordinances were approved, global agrochemical companies like Monsanto and Syngenta successfully sued to prevent the measures from taking effect. The counties and Earthjustice appealed, and all three cases were presented at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week.

All of the cases come down to the question of preemption—whether the counties’ new regulations conflict with existing state or federal regulations. Earthjustice and its clients don’t believe that they do, and just because the state can regulate something doesn’t mean that the county cannot, says Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff.