Maine Governor LePage Signs GMO Labeling Bill into Law

Posted on Jan 9 2014 - 9:19pm by Sustainable Pulse

Republican Governor Paul LePage has kept his written promise to the people of Maine by signing Maine’s GMO labeling bill, LD 718, into law on Thursday.

LePage left it to the last minute as the Maine Constitution had required him to act on LD 718 this week at the latest. However, later is better than never as GMO Free Maine made clear Thursday.

GMO Free Maine stated “It’s official. Maine is the second state in the country to require labeling of GMO foods. Please join us at a celebration on Tuesday at 1:30 in the Hall of Flags at the State House in Augusta!” on their facebook page soon after Lepage signed the bill.

Maine’s state senate easily passed a bill in June 2013 that may one day mandate the labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms. The bill passed 35-0, but before labels are required, five consecutive states must also pass labeling laws.

For Maine, that also means the GMO labeling will only go into effect if New Hampshire, the only state with which it shares a border, passes a similar law.

According to local newspaper reports Mainers share nearly unanimous support for the right-to-know. A scientific Pan-Atlantic poll conducted last spring showed 91 percent of Maine voters favored legislation enshrining their right to know about GMOs.

Similarly, in late 2013 another scientific Mellman poll indicated 90 percent of New Hampshire voters support right-to-know GMO labeling.

Repeatedly, national polls have shown phenomenal support for GMO labeling: 93 percent in a July 2013 New York Times poll; 96 percent in a February 2011 MSNBC poll; and 93 percent in an October 2010 Reuters/NPR poll.

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2 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Dave January 10, 2014 at 00:57 - Reply

    MONSANTO is so pissed right now!! Haha! It feels good pissing off a dirty, corrupt conglomerate!

  2. Frank January 13, 2014 at 21:50 - Reply

    Gov. LePage is so much better than Obama(he’s NOT a true president by the way due to his fake birth certificate. See projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?57789-4-Simple–really–questions–Obama-birth-certificate-lies- plus other digital evidence showing it’s a multi-layered forgery).

    As a president of USA (despite through his theft), i.e. the head of the government, he does have highest authority as the highest elected official to change certain things for better(sounds historically familiar? If you can recall all his sugar-coated pledges when he was running for the office), if he uses it correctly, for instance GMO labelling could be mandated through a quick procedure as simple as a directive from him to FDA; just to refresh your memory, he pledged immediate GMO labeling in 2007. It turned out just to be another hoax from this BIGGEST lier in American history. Not only he totally ignored his very own words, he subsequently appointed Monsanto’s Ex VP to head FDA. Now give me a solid reason why he hasn’t mandated GMO labeling, other than protecting the best interest of big corporations destroying the planet and poisoning US citizens who voted him in in the first place, and who he’s supposed to protect by oath.

    I applaud that Gov. LePage, a Republican, holds true to his words, with special thanks to all Mainers for their overwhelming support and understanding of the whole GMO issue. All citizens should take initiative and ownership like that so that politicians don’t cave in or collude with big corporations.

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