A river bleached white with the waste of aluminium
production snakes through the parched
Louisiana landscape before emerging into a muddy red lake in Darrow where the
colours swirl together "as on a palette".
February 26, 2013
In the United States everything is polluted.
Democracy is polluted with special interests and corrupt politicians.
Accountability is polluted with executive branch
exemptions from law and the Constitution and with special legal privileges for
corporations, such as the Supreme Court given right to corporations to purchase
American elections.
The Constitution is polluted with corrupt legal
interpretations from the Bush and Obama regimes that have turned constitutional
prohibitions into executive branch rights, transforming law from a shield of
the people into a weapon in the hands of government.
Waters are polluted with toxic waste spills, oil spills, chemical
fertilizer run-off with resulting red tides and dead zones, acid discharges
from mining with resulting destructive algae such as prymnesium parvum, from
toxic chemicals used in fracking and with methane that fracking releases into
wells and aquifers, resulting in warnings to homeowners near to fracking
operations to open their windows when showering.
The soil’s fertility is damaged, and crops
require large quantities of chemical fertilizers. The soil is polluted with an
endless array of toxic substances and now with glyphosate, the main element in
Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide with which GMO crops are sprayed. Glyphosate now
shows up in wells, streams and in rain.
Air is polluted with a variety of substances, and there are many
large cities in which there are days when the young, the elderly, and those
suffering with asthma are warned to remain indoors.
All of these costs are costs
imposed on society and ordinary people
by corporations that banked profits
by not having to take the costs into account.
This is the way in which unregulated
capitalism works.
Our food itself is polluted with antibiotics, growth hormones,
pesticides, and glyphosate.
Glyphosate might be the most dangerous development to date.
Some scientists believe that glyphosate has the potential to wipe out our main
grain crops and now that Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack, has
approved genetically modified Roundup Ready alfalfa, maintaining sustainable
animal herds for milk and meat could become impossible.
Alfalfa is the main forage crop for dairy and beef herds.
Genetically modified alfalfa could be unsafe for animal feed, and animal
products such as milk and meat could become unsafe for human consumption.
On January 17, 2011, Dr. Don Huber outlined the dangers of
approving Roundup Ready alfalfa in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture
Vilsack. Huber requested that approval be delayed until independent research
could evaluate the risks.
Vilsack ignored Huber’s letter and ten days later
deregulated Roundup Ready alfalfa on January 27, thus accommodating Monsanto’s
desire for monopoly profits that come from the company’s drive to control the
seed supply of US and world agriculture by approving Roundup Ready alfalfa.
WHO IS DON HUBER, AND WHY
IS HIS LETTER IMPORTANT?
Huber is professor emeritus at Purdue University. He has
been a plant pathologist and soil microbiologist for a half century. He has an
international reputation as a leading authority. In the US military, he
evaluated natural and manmade biological threats, such as germ warfare and
disease outbreaks and retired with the rank of Colonel. For the USDA he
coordinates the Emergent Diseases and Pathogens Committee. In other words, he
is high up in his scientific profession.
You can read online what Huber told the Secretary of Agriculture. Briefly, the outcome of many years of Roundup Ready GMO corn and soybeans has been:a decline in nutritional value,the outbreak of new plant diseases resulting in widespread crop failures,and severe reproductive problems in livestock, with some herds having a spontaneous abortion rate that is too high to maintain a profitable business.
Glyphosate is a powerful biocide. It harms beneficial soil
organisms, altering the natural balance in the soil and reducing the disease
resistance of crops, thus unleashing diseases that devastate corn, soybean, and
wheat crops, and giving rise to a new pathogen associated with premature animal
aging and infertility. These developments, Huber told the Agriculture
Secretary, “are threatening the economic viability of both crop and animal
producers.” The evidence seems to be real that genetically modified crops have
lost their genetic resistance to diseases that never previously were threats.
There is evidence that the new pathogen is related to a rise
in human infertility and is likely having adverse effects on human health of
which we are still uninformed. Like fluoride, glyphosate might enter our diet
in a variety of ways. For example, the label on a bottle of Vitamin D says,
“Other ingredients: soybean oil, corn oil.”
Monsanto disputes Huber’s claims and got support for its
position from the agricultural extension services of Iowa State and Ohio State
universities. However, the question is whether these are independently funded
services or corporate supported, and there is always the element of
professional rivalry, especially for funding, which comes mainly from
agribusiness.
The Purdue University extension service was more
circumspect. On the one hand it admits that there is evidence that supports
Huber’s claims: “The claim that herbicides, such as glyphosate, can make plants
more susceptible to disease is not entirely without merit. Research has
indicated that plants sprayed with glyphosate or other herbicides are more
susceptible to many biological and physiological disorders (Babiker et al.,
2011; Descalzo et al., 1996; Johal and Rahe, 1984; Larson et al., 2006; Means
and Kremer, 2007; Sanogo et al., 2000; Smiley et al., 1992). . . . Although
some research indicates there is an increase in disease severity on plants in
the presence of glyphosate, it does NOT necessarily mean that there is an
impact on yield.”
On the other hand, the Purdue extension service maintains
its recommendation for “judicious glyphosate use for weed control.” However,
one of Huber’s points is that weeds are developing Roundup resistance. Use has
gone beyond the “judicious” level and as glyphosate builds up in soil, its
adverse effects increase.
A submission to the Environmental Protection Agency by 26
university entomologists describes the constraints that agribusiness has put on
the ability of independent scientists to conduct objective research. The
submission, in which the scientists are afraid to reveal their names because of
the threat of funding cutoffs, is included as an item in one of the
bibliographical references below. Here is the statement:
“The names of the scientists have been
withheld from the public docket because virtually all of us require cooperation
from industry at some level to conduct our research. Statement:
Technology/stewardship agreements required for the purchase of genetically
modified seed explicitly prohibit research. These agreements inhibit public
scientists from pursuing their mandated role on behalf of the public good
unless the research is approved by industry. As a result of restricted access,
no truly independent research can be legally conducted on many critical
questions regarding the technology, its performance, its management
implications, IRM, and its interactions with insect biology. Consequently, data
flowing to an EPA Scientific Advisory Panel from the public sector is unduly
limited.”
Monsanto is not only sufficiently powerful to prevent any
research other than that which it purchases with its funding, but also Monsanto
succeeded last year in blocking with money and propaganda the GMO labeling law
in California. I would tell you to be careful what you eat as it can make you
ill and infertile, but you can’t even find out what you are eating.
You live in America, which has “freedom and democracy” and
“accountable” government and ”accountable” corporations. You don’t need to
worry. The government and responsible corporations are taking good care of you.
Especially Obama, Vilsack, and Monsanto.
SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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