The bill states that even if future research shows that GMOs or GE
seeds cause significant health problems, cancer, etc, anything, that the
federal courts no longer have any power to stop their spread, use, or
sales.
There are of course arguments to be made that not enough research has
been done yet to accurately determine the effects that GMOs have on
human and animal health (though the research already done should make
you stop and think). This bill sidesteps that completely though, and
simply states that even if there are problems, that the federal courts
can no longer do anything about it. And this bill is now law, thanks to
President Obama and the U.S. Congress.
Some other interesting things to keep in mind:
- The bill was apparently written by freshman Sen. Roy
Blunt in collusion with Monsanto, with them helping to craft the exact
language of the document.
- “The Center for Responsive Politics notes that Sen. Blunt received $64,250 from Monsanto
to go towards his campaign committee between 2008 and 2012. The Money
Monocle website adds that Blunt has been the largest Republican Party
recipient of Monsanto funding as of late.”
- Many members of Congress were apparently unaware that the “Monsanto
Protection Act” was a part of the spending bill that they were voting
on.
- Obama had no problem signing it into law (not really a surprise, he’s been rather soft on GMO policy).
- The bill will only remain in effect for a limited time, but it’s a
bad sign. With the ease that this bill passed, it’ll be interesting to
see what future bills look like.
As the
Daily News asks, “Who’s more powerful, the world’s largest producer of genetically modified crops or the U.S. government?”
“On Tuesday, Pres. Obama inked his name to H.R. 933, a continuing
resolution spending bill approved in Congress days earlier. Buried 78
pages within the bill exists a provision that grossly protects biotech
corporations such as the Missouri-based Monsanto Company from
litigation.”
“In light of approval from the House and
Senate, more than 250,000 people signed a petition asking the president
to veto the spending bill over the biotech rider tacked on, an item that
has since been widely referred to as the ‘Monsanto Protection Act.’”
“But Obama ignored [the petition],” as the
IB Times
notes, “instead choosing to sign a bill that effectively bars federal
courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of GMO or GE crops
and seeds, no matter what health consequences from the consumption of
these products may come to light in the future.”
GMOs, while they may cause problems for human health, are primarily a
problem for other reasons, mostly to do with crop/genetic diversity and
overly complex industrial systems. And also the fact that they
often don’t even work the way that they are “supposed” to.
When taken in context though, GMOs are really just another in a long
line of environmentally damaging practices that people have done for
short term gain/profit. From the large-scale
deforestation of the world’s old-growth forests,
to sustenance farming, to modern
imported-fertilizer/pesticide/herbicide/fossil-fuel dependent industrial
agricultural, the trend has been consistent, GMOs are just another in
that line of attempts to temporarily maintain/raise crop yields.
Regardless of the type of agriculture or the location, there are limits
to how long any land can remain productive, applying imported
fertilizers, or utilizing GMOs, only provides, at best, a temporary halt
to the land’s transition to non-productive “wasteland”, and to
desertification.
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