Political Quicksand for California’s AB1147
So you might be wondering… how much longer is California’s AB1147 going to stew in the state Senate’s Public Safety Committee? It has been there since February waiting for action. This bill revises the definition of marijuana in the California Health and Safety Code to exclude industrial hemp — a small step, perhaps, but until industrial hemp gets in the books as a legal product, there will always be roadblocks to commerce.
No hearing date has been scheduled yet, and it’s unclear precisely why. But if you check the committee membership and the political context in 2006, you get the big picture (and it’s not a pretty one). It’s an election year: If you’re a senator worried about whether or not you’ll keep your cushy office in Sacramento this year, why take a risk in passing through a hemp bill that could give you bad press?
Check the history of AB1147, including who voted for and against, here. Next time: A member-by-member analysis of the committee and who might have an incentive to block the bill.
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INDUSTRIAL HEMP PROVIDES GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY
In the last 50 years the global population has increased by over 140 per-cent. With this comes an increasing separation between the haves and have-nots’. This inequality among the poor is mounting at an exponential rate, with a disparity of inadequate housing, escalating poverty and hunger. The projection in the year 2050 is that our global human footprint will exceed our resources, since population will probably be over 10 billion.
Human activity continues to inflict damage on our ecosystems and we are on a path where our environment continues to deteriorate due to advances in technology that have caused a throw away economy and has tapped our natural resources to their limits. Regardless, much of our society still takes a negative position that it is our right to consume. The Gross National Product (GNP) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have continually increased. Even more disturbing is the fact that the GNP and GDP do not represent quality of life, because it is only consider intrinsic value. This attitude is immoral and cannot sustain life on our planet. Therefore, extinction is possible if we do not alter our ethical and political attitudes with respect to development and radically rethink our demands on natural resources.
Individually, we can all make a difference by reducing and changing our consumption habits, decreasing the use of our natural resources and choosing alternative products that are friendlier, renewable, and do not decimate our environment. We can reverse the detrimental harm to our world. However, in order to achieve sustainability, we need to change our values, make an ethical commitment, and focus on new innovated scientific approaches or technology that will rise above political barriers in conjunction with processes that are already at our disposal, but we avoid due to political reasons.
There are varieties of alternative renewable resources to enhance our quality of life and the ecosystem. The best, most versatile and sustainable is the ancient Chinese crop Hemp. It is biomass for energy alternative crop and is the highest scored for the ecology. It grows in a wide range of soil conditions and temperature zones. It is disease resistant, drought tolerant, it will adapt to climate changes, and it is biodegradable. Its nutritional value is one of the most perfect food resources, because it is the best-known essential fatty acid and is high in protein. Therefore, we have the ability to feed the hungry and impoverished people of our world. It also has the capability to replace the majorities of synthetic textiles. What is even more amazing it grows to maturity in just a few months and reinvigorates the soil because of its deep roots. It does not require herbicides or pesticides, and it is a rotational crop that requires less water then other crops. In fact, it is a better alternative to oil, paint, diesel fuel and plastic since it is a friendly nontoxic biodegradable renewable crop. It is even stronger than cotton, double the strength of concrete and wood, and it has the ability to yield four times the amount of paper as trees per acre. It has the potential more or less for replacement of any construction material for buildings and bridges. Therefore, in rural impoverished areas it is feasible to grow to increase social welfare.
China is one of the main producers of Industrial Hemp and there is great probability that China will ‘leapfrog’ their economy past the developed nations in the next 15 years. If countries throughout the world do not strengthen their governmental policy, potential conflicts may occur in the near future with countries lagging behind. Therefore, we need to focus on new innovated scientific approaches that will rise above political barriers and only use renewed natural resources that are sustainable and enhance the quality of life.
Posted by: karan zopatti | June 15, 2006 10:59 AM
The California Senate passed the Industrial Hemp Farming Act AB 1147 bill by a vote of 26-13 on August 16,2006. "The bill now heads to the Assembly for a final concurrence vote and will then be sent to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk for his signature." Vote Hemp
Posted by: karan zopatti | August 18, 2006 02:19 AM