Voters in Berkeley, Calif, approved the nation’s first municipal soda tax and Maui County, Hawaii, passed an initiative that bars cultivation of genetically engineered crops during Tuesday’s general elections. Statewide referendums in Oregon and California to require labels of food made with genetically modified organisms were defeated.
The 1 cent-per-ounce soda tax won by a landslide in Berkeley, with 75 percent of ballots cast in favor, 16,966-5,619, said Daily Cal, in a contest regarded as a showdown with the soda industry, which poured millions of dollars into opposition to the Berkeley tax and a proposed 2 cent-per-ounce tax in San Francisco. Voters rejected the San Francisco proposal, 54-46, said public broadcaster KQED.
“Proponents of the Berkeley tax say the fee will help curb consumption of sodas, energy drinks and sweetened ice teas, beverages they say are contributing to the nation’s obesity epidemic,” said USA Today. A soda industry spokesman told the Associated Press that Berkeley was unlikely to be a national trend-setter.
The Maui initiative was approved, 50-48, said returns posted by the the Hawaii Secretary of State’s office with all precincts reporting. It was a margin of 1,077 votes out of nearly 46,000 cast.
“The initiative will place a moratorium on the cultivation of GMO materials on Maui, Molokai and Lanai until they were cleared by environmental and safety studies,” said Hawaii News Now. “Opponents of the GMO initiative raised nearly $8 million to try to kill the measure.”
Seed company Monsanto as test plots on Maui.
For the third year in a row, state referendums on labeling GMO foods failed. Oregon’s Measure 92, was defeated, 51-49, a margin of 22,489 votes out of 1.26 million cast, according to unofficial results posted by the Secretary of State’s office. Colorado’s Proposition 105 on GMO labeling, was defeated, 67-33, according to results posted by the Colorado Secratary of State’s office.
Opponents spent more than $36 million to defeat the proposals, said Reuters, similar to the heavy spending against unsuccessful proposals in California in 2012 and in Washington state in 2013. Vermont legislators passed a GMO labeling law this spring, due to take effect in 2016. It is being challenged in court by foodmakers.