GMO Bill Gets Second Wind

In October, the Kauai County Council in Hawaii passed a bill that would make agricultural companies disclose more information about the pesticides and GMO crops they use. And then the Kauai mayor vetoed it. But the county council kept fighting and has successfully overridden the veto. This re-opens the way for the new law to go into effect. What’s important here is that a group of dedicated citizens stood up for their right to know more about what companies are doing near where they live and work. Especially when there are both known and unknown health risks at stake.
 

San Francisco’s Aggressive Plan Could Abolish Carbon Emissions

The Bay Area recently passed a climate protection resolution that will slash carbon emissions in the region 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. If successful, the policy could dramatically change the city’s transportation landscape. According to Quartz, “The Bay Area has California’s most extensive public transportation system and its tech-savvy drivers have been earlier adopters of electric cars… But [in order to make this work] the [air district board] will also need to convert more of the region’s bus and truck fleet to carbon-free fuels and electrify diesel-powered ports.” Beyond getting more people in battery-powered cars and electric buses, the agency acts as an incubator for new technologies. “For instance, it’s helping to fund a pilot project to create an electric taxi service to link regional airports in San Francisco to the region’s cities,” according to Forbes. If these progressive measures to slash carbon emissions work in a car-centric city like San Francisco, the policy could serve as a model for the rest of the country.