Fifteen Issues, Eight Demands, One People, One Revolution (g1a2d0022c1) (Photo credit: watchingfrogsboil)
I know – I hate writing these posts, but here we go again…
Here is a copy of the email I received today from Food Democracy –
Dear Carole
Yesterday, Food Democracy Now! received an urgent call from a concerned Congressional staffer about Monsanto’s latest efforts to undermine our basic democratic rights.
As politicians in Washington DC discuss the “fiscal cliff”, biotech lobbyists are desperate to slide provisions into any end of the year omnibus spending bill to make sure their new GMO crops can evade any serious scientific or regulatory review.
According to sources in DC, Monsanto has once again succeeded in slipping provisions into the House Agricultural Appropriations Bill that have now been added to an omnibus spending bill that certain members of the House of Representatives are desperate to get passed before the end of the year.
These riders, which we dubbed the “Monsanto Protection Act” earlier this year, would strip federal courts of their authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal and potentially hazardous GMO crop.
As they did earlier this summer, these new provisions, called “riders”, would allow biotech companies to continue to sell their unapproved seeds to farmers, who could plant them while important legal appeals are taking place, instead of halting the planting of the unapproved crop until the court settled the appeal as has been done up until now.
In classic form, the biotech industry has cleverly hidden their toxic plan under the deceptive title of a “Farmer Assurance Provision” (Sec. 733). In truth, the “Monsanto Protection Act” would allow the biotech industry to continue to flout American legal precedence and violate the constitutional separation of powers set forth by our Founding Fathers.
In short, the “Farmer Assurance Provision” is the greatest threat to farmers’ and citizens’ rights that Monsanto and the biotech industry has ever devised and it must be stopped – today!
According to legal experts, this provision “would create a precedent-setting limitation on judicial review” and is a “dangerous assault on fundamental federal and judicial safeguards”.
This current rider is a response to the successful lawsuits that farmers have filed to prevent the sale, distribution and cultivation of GMO sugarbeets and GMO alfalfa, both of which were forced to stop from being planted while the USDA finalized full environment reviews. But once again, Monsanto and the biotech industry are working behind the scenes to shred vital legal rights simply so they can make endless profits.
If allowed to pass, the Monsanto Protection Act would:
- Violate the constitutional precedent of separation of powers by interfering with the process of judicial review.
- Eliminate federal agency oversight to protect farmers, consumers and the environment from potential harms caused by unapproved biotech crops.
- Allow Monsanto and biotech seed and chemical companies to profit by overriding the rule of law and plant their untested GMO crops despite no proof of their safety for the public and environment.
No matter what you believe about GMOs, the fact is that corporations should not have the right to fundamentally undermine our basic rights and constitutional freedoms in their relentless pursuit of profits. Even the consideration of this dangerous provision is a sign of just how much power Monsanto has over our federal government and how far the biotech industry will go to force its genetically engineered food on to the American public.
If allowed to pass, the Monsanto Protection Act will only open farmers and the agricultural economy to very real and significant harm from cross-contamination events. Currently, the Plant Protection Act requires the USDA to regulate GMO crops to protect “the agriculture, environment and economy of the United States”. As a result of previous lawsuits, the USDA is required to complete court-mandated environmental impact statements (EIS) prior to the sale and planting of GMO crops, but even the USDA has shown little regard for this law.
Now, the new provision set forth in the FY 2013 House Agricultural Appropriations Bill and added to a new omnibus spending bill will allow biotech seed and chemical companies to openly skirt even minimal protections of human health and environmental concerns.
Fortunately, Congressman Peter DeFazio (OR-D) is working to circulate a Dear Colleague letter to fellow Representatives in an effort to strike the “farmer assurance provision” currently included in the Agriculture Appropriations Bill and we need your help to make sure your member of Congress signs this important letter to stop the Monsanto Protection Act.
Join Food Democracy Now! and our allies to help stop the Monsanto Protection Act. It’s time that our elected officials start putting our rights over the profits of Monsanto and biotech companies.
Thanks for participating in food democracy,
Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! Team
Background:
“‘Monsanto Protection Act’ would keep GMO crops in the ground during legal battles “, Grist, June 29, 2012
http://action.fooddemocracynow.
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I signed – even though my representatives are pro-Monsanto in hopes that they will understand that the people who they are supposed to be representing do not want to be forced to eat the food, plant the seeds, or have anything to do with whatever genetically modified creations they are making in their labs.
I also donated again. I believe in this fight. I know you get tired of hearing about it, but you can’t later accuse me of not telling you. We can’t give up. Please take a couple seconds to sign the letter, and then get back to your regularly scheduled holiday stuff!
We’re going to be baking cookies with my sister and my niece who is up from Orlando. I wrote about that here – http://sanesuperwomanclub.com/blog/christmas-cookie-extravaganza/
I’ve been working on that site. Let me know what you think.
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