Radical environmental activists convinced the Los Angeles city council Tuesday to draft an ordinance banning the production or sale of genetically modified organisms (GMO) within the city limits, less than two years after the voters of California rejected Proposition 37, which would have forced the labeling of GMO foods. The ban flies in the face of scientific evidence that there is no significant public health or environmental hazard from GMO.
The new city ordinance would only have a limited effect, according to the Los Angeles Times, since it would apply to seeds and plants, not the final food products, and there is little agriculture inside Los Angeles. Still, the message to voters is clear: no matter what Californians decide at the ballot box, the left will pass what it wants, anyway–whether the issue is gay marriage or GMO, whether it has to turn to the courts or to local government.
The Times notes that a slim majority of Los Angeles voters, 52% approved proposition 37. However, it was one of the only left-wing ballot initiatives that failed in a year that saw a concerted effort by activists on several other referenda, such as passing Proposition 30 (raising taxes on the rich) and defeating Proposition 32 (curbing the political use of union dues). The voters, apparently, exist to be cajoled into submission–or disregarded entirely.
Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak edits Breitbart California and is the author of the new ebook, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party, available for Amazon Kindle.
Follow Joel on Twitter: @joelpollak