Rice is daily food for half of the world's population. Genetically modified (GM) rice, on the other hand, is a threat to our agriculture, our biodiversity and a possible risk to our health.
At present, GM rice is not grown commercially anywhere in the world. But Bayer, the German chemical giant, has genetically manipulated rice to withstand higher doses of a toxic pesticide called glufosinate, which is considered to be so dangerous to humans and the environment that it will soon be banned from Europe.
In just a few weeks, the European Union will decide whether or not this GM rice can enter EU countries, appear on supermarket shelves and end up on our dinner plates. If the EU approves the import of Bayer GM rice, farmers in the US and elsewhere may soon start planting it.
CSPI's panties are in a twist because of one of Bush's last moves during his time in office. Flimsy, dubious health claims are a go, says the Bush administration. (Here is the FDA's page on these so-called 'qualified health claims.')
The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest objected today [January 15] to a "midnight" attempt by the outgoing Bush Administration to institutionalize a Food and Drug Administration practice permitting so-called "qualified health claims" on food labels. Such claims can be based on flimsy scientific evidence. The FDA first began permitting them on food labels in 2002. Prior to the Bush years, such claims were only allowed on dietary supplements. An example of these claims would be,"Very limited and preliminary scientific research suggests that eating one-half to one cup of tomatoes and/or tomato sauce a week may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. FDA requires that the claim be followed by the statement, "The FDA concludes that there is little scientific evidence supporting this claim."
To my chagrin, I've been unable to figure out exactly what Bush did on Regulations.gov or even Google. With luck, this one falls under the stuff that Obama froze when he came into office.
Cristeta Comerford, who has been in charge of cooking first-family meals for the Bushes since 2005, will retain her post, the Obama team announced. ... it turns out that Comerford was already cooking local, organic American food -- some of it sourced from a White House roof garden.
Former White House chef Walter Scheib said Mrs. Bush was "adamant that in ALL CASES if an organic product was available it was to be used in place of a non-organic product."
Think Progress took this one step further: If organic is good enough for George W. Bush, why didn't he think it was good enough for average Americans? Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat cake" and the conservative Heritage Foundation says "Let them eat broccoli." It seems that the Bush version is "Let them eat pesticides."
8:47 AM: "Call Dick for permission to use the half and half instead of the skim milk.
Ask if I can have 2 eggs instead of the 1 I usually got at the White House.
Also ask Dick if he thinks the brown shoes with the Lee jeans and the studded belt projects that all-important 'still-virile, used to be The Decider' look."
Bush has his pardon pen out and ready for those who pollute, launder money, lie, and commit other crimes that Bush doesn't find too troublesome. But he's starting off with a sick charade he repeats every year: a pardon for a Thanksgiving turkey. This year's lucky bird is named Scooter Libby Pumpkin.
Enjoy, Pumpkin. Shh! Nobody tell the cage of alternate turkeys that they missed their chance and they all have Subway sandwiches in their near future.
Today I am beginning an occasional series on what George W. Bush will do for corporate interests and major Republican donors during the final weeks of his presidency.
This comes from the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's e-mail newsletter:
EPA Administrator Signs Off on Final CAFO Rule: Last Friday, as a "Halloween trick" for the environment and public health, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson signed a revised Clean Water Act final regulation for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) permits and effluent limitations. EPA revised the CAFO regulations in response to legal challenges to a 2003 CAFO final regulation, brought in the case Waterkeeper Alliance Inc. v. EPA by both environmental organizations and the CAFO sector.
The revision opens a gaping hole in the 2003 regulation by allowing a CAFO, no matter how large, to self-certify that the CAFO does not "intend" to discharge to the waters of the U.S. EPA ignored the recommendation of the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals to establish a regulatory presumption that large-scale CAFOs discharge pollutants. The presumption would have required that a large-scale CAFO demonstrate to regulatory authorities that it is designed and can be operated to avoid all discharges of regulated pollutants.
EPA also rejected making improvements in technology that reduce harmful bacteria and other pathogens that threaten public health, a problem aggravated by the development of antibiotic resistant pathogens in CAFOs. The revised rule does include one improvement required in Waterkeeper -- that a CAFO nutrient management plan must be included in a Clean Water Act permit for the CAFO and made available for public review and comment.
EPA is expected publish the revised final regulation in the Federal Register before the end of November. In the meantime, a copy of the unofficial version of the revised regulation is posted on the EPA website. You can also register on the website for a November 19 EPA webcast about the revised CAFO regulation.
SAC will be urging the new Administration to revisit this rulemaking on an expedited basis.
Why am I not surprised that industrial ag profits are a higher priority than the environment and public health?
I hope that the Obama administration will put this on the list of actions to be overturned.
Not great news for farmers and anyone growing food. I have just finished rereading Mark Lynas book, "Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet". A book which, alas, won't be read by the likes of global warming denier Senator Inhofe (R-OK), who has amply demonstrated his ferocious loyalty to big oil and the energy cartel to the detriment of logic. His pockets are full of graft.
Let me explain what's in store for us. First of all we now know for sure, as does German Chancellor Merkel who tried to talk some sense to the other leaders, that the world will start to unravel once we heat up another two degrees (though some deniers seem to think that we're entering a mini ice age!) Simply, as Mark Lynas explains, the Amazon rain forest has no resistance to fire because it is constantly humid. When the planet heats up by another three degrees the humidity dries out, and the Amazon, being the lungs of the Earth, burns to a cinder. This will cause the Siberian peat-bogs to thaw and release its massive amounts of methane into the atmosphere. We are now getting closer to five degrees. Once we get to six degrees we have reached the end game. Adios!
A variety of headlines from the USA tells me that he's not wrong: Scorched USA suffers worst drought since Great Depression....Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental USA. And it's spreading....
Our intrepid G8 politicians have gathered on the beautifully serene lake Toya, in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido for a round of cosy talks on such pesky subject matters like food shortages, climate change and various modern ills.
The global food shortage was not evident as the G8 leaders tucked in a "working lunch" of white asparagus and truffle soup followed by kegani crab salad, a supreme of chicken and cheese and coffee with exotic petit fours. Alongside bottled mineral waters, crates of Chateau Grillet 2005 was on offer for those who felt like a tipple as African leaders urged the G8 to tackle spiking oil and food prices, warning the crisis threatens to aggravate an already desperate plight in the continent.
Personally, I have known for some time that these "power summits" - concocted some thirty years ago in a fireside chat at Rambouillet - achieve little, if anything it provides some mental masturbatory moments for weary leaders and a promise of top notch repasts. If some of you have better information on past G8 feats not feasts, do tell.
