A proposed ban on biotech crops in Oregon’s Benton County has failed by a strong margin.
Nearly 73 percent of voters rejected Measure 2-89, which would have prohibited cultivation of genetically modified organisms.
The proposal was met with alarm by scientists at Oregon State University, which lies in the county, who feared it would stop research projects that rely on genetic engineering.
Its defeat shows that once voters learn the facts, they will reject extreme measures, said Scott Dahlman, policy director of the Oregonians for Food and Shelter agribusiness group, which opposed the initative.
“I think it’s a resounding statement that folks in Benton County support all types of agriculture,” he said.
Dana Allen, a chief petitioner for the ballot initiative, said OSU’s statements were likely the reason that people voted against Measure 2-89.
However, Allen said that the prohibition was focused solely on the county’s food system and wouldn’t be as far-reaching as the university claimed.
“It wouldn’t shut down any research at OSU at all. All it would shut down is the open planting of GMOs that would contaminate our local food system,” she said.
Even if it had been approved, the initiative was probably largely unenforceable.
Legislation passed by lawmakers in 2013, Senate Bill 863, precluded most Oregon counties from regulating GMOs.
That bill applied to seed, but OSU was concerned that research involving genetically modified bacteria or animals would not be covered by SB 863 and could be disallowed by the proposed ordinance, said Dahlman.
“There was a lot of risk there,” he said.
Benton County’s ballot initiative was intended to challenge the statewide pre-emption statute as undemocratic, said Allen. “We don’t think the state should be telling communities what to do.”
Similar measures are likely to continue being proposed at the county level as communities resist the statewide pre-emption, she said. “You’re going to see this type of activity all over Oregon.”
Aside from local measures, biotech critics also hope to get a ballot initiative on the 2016 statewide ballot that would allow local governments to enact such restrictions.
Voters in Jackson and Josephine counties passed GMO prohibitions last year.
Josephine County’s ordinance is pre-empted by state law, but Jackson County was exempted from SB 863 because its initiative was already on the ballot.
Alfalfa farmers are now seeking an injunction prohibiting Jackson County’s ban from going into effect for allegedly violating the state’s “right to farm” law, which disallows local government restrictions of farm practices.
Source: www.capitalpress.com