PROVIDENCE — Two lesser known, although intriguing,
environmental bills were heard recently at the Statehouse, along with a second
debate about wind turbines on farms.
Human cloning. A bill by
Rep. Arthur Corvese, D-North Providence, would extend the state’s prohibition
on human cloning until 2017. Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, professor of microbiology
at Providence College, testified that the ban wouldn't impact stem-cell
research.
“I can
reassure from a scientific perspective there’s no reason to believe that the
passage of this bill would in any way inhibit the research that would lead to those
cutting-edge technology discoveries,” Austriaco said during a hearing of the
House Health, Education and Welfare Committee.
Research, he said, is moving away from embryonic stem cells to adult stem cells, meaning that the cloning of human eggs, as well as the harvesting of eggs from female donors, is becoming less common. A ban on cloning, Austriaco said, “will protect women who might be exploited for their eggs.”
The
bill was held for further study.
GMOs. Two similar bills, H5278 sponsored
by Rep. Raymond Hull, D-Providence, andH5849 sponsored
by Rep. Lisa Baldelli Hunt, D-Woonsocket, had their first hearing. Both require
food makers and retailers to label foods containing genetically modified
organisms (GMOs).
“I
think we all should know exactly what’s in our food,” Hull said.
The
food industry is behaving like the tobacco industry in failing to test for
potential health risks that surface years later, he said. “Rather than waiting
20 or 30 years from now,” Hull said, “I’m asking that this law address it now.
And it’s simple, in that we just want proper labeling on what we are consuming
and what’s going into our body.”
Committee
chairman Rep. Joseph McNamara, D-Warwick, said he liked the idea of labeling
and supports organic food. He noted that he keeps a few organic beers from New
Hampshire at home. “They are very good,” he said.
The
legislation is opposed by the Rhode Island Food Dealers Association, the Rhode
Island Farm Bureau and the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.
The
bill was held for further study.
Wind turbines on farms. The Senate Committee on
the Environment and Agriculture took its turn holding a hearing on
a bill to allow wind turbines on Rhode Island farms. Much like the
House hearing on a similar bill, the Senate hearing was mostly a debate about
allowing a wind turbine on Stamp Farm in North Kingstown.
William
Stamp Jr. said the town initially asked him to consider erecting a turbine. An
alternate three-turbine project was also proposed for “a neighbor,” he said. “I
did not pursue wind turbines on my farm until North Kingstown ... came to me
and said, ‘We’d like to have you look at it.’” After public outcry, the town
enacted a moratorium on wind turbines in 2010.
Opponents
said they wanted to wait for wind turbine siting guidelines are issued by the
state. But they also feared that a turbine would hurt property values of nearby
homes.
“If a
turbine goes up there, my property value immediately goes down,” North
Kingstown resident Robin Wilson said. Wilson also objected to a provision in
the bill that gives the state the final authority in setting siting guidelines.
“It’s as if I have no say, my property value is simply taken away from me for
the greater good.”
Wilson
also warned of debris thrown from turbines hitting nearby homes.
Stamp
said wind turbines create jobs and protect open space by generating badly
needed income for farmers. “It’s only wind. It’s not sending smoke up into the
air," he said. "We can stand next to it and breath.”
The
bill was held for further study.
