Supreme Court justices sounded skeptical Tuesday of a federal court decision blocking US biotech giant Monsanto's sale of genetically modified alfalfa because some farmers fear their crops will be contaminated.
A federal judge in California in May 2007 ruled in a finding upheld on appeal in 2009 to block the sale of Monsanto's GM alfalfa seeds.
The ruling also asked the USDA to carry out an environmental impact study which it had not done before giving a green light back in 2004 to the sale of these seeds.
Plaintiffs, who are organic farmers supported by organizations such as the Center for Biological Diversity, worry that genetically modified seeds will contaminate their crops.
Monsanto took the fight all the way to the highest court in the land, arguing that the federal court did not have authority to block the alfalfa seed sales.
In a hearing, justices had questions about whether the environmental impact could be addressed before the USDA had done an impact study.
Judge Antonin Scalia minimized potential risks saying, "This is not the contamination of the New York city water supply. This isn't the end of the world. It really isn't."
via US Supreme Court eyes bar on Monsanto GM alfalfa - Yahoo! News.
Yeah, it's not like some alfalfa is going to create a black hole that swallows the entire galaxy in one day and one night resulting in the complete extinction of all life everywhere in the entire Milky Way Galaxy. Geeze. Relax. Eat your franken-foods. Trust that if it turns out that GM foods are killing people slowly and/or causing diseases like cancer, there will, eventually, be lawsuits and it will be banned ... after enough people have died. That's the way it worked with vioxx, asbestos, PCBs, certain pesticides, DDT and cigarettes.
5 comments:
Thanks. For the record I'm only against GMO foods because I don't believe our system has working checks and balances. Genetic modifications have allowed us to feed more people than we could otherwise. If we get smart about oversight, and long term consequences, then I'm fine with our reprogramming of biology.
Scalia's remark was emotional, illogical, uninformed and unintelligent. If this is what we can expect from the Supreme Court, then that court might as well not exist. We would be better off.
[...] And why didn’t he dismiss himself? I’m guessing because he’s morally deficient. And Justice Scalia said about GM Alfalfa, This is not the contamination of the New York city water supply. This isn’t the end of the [...]
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With Monsanto involved using a genetic modification that involves bacteria it is the end of the world. The part of the bacterium that this is used from codes DNA and RNA in a sequence to deprive the organism of reproducing can be introduced into other non-related organisms through direct contact mutation. Over generations this product inserts its sequence into said organisms messing up the genetic structure. Plant generations happen fast and if you keep eating them or eating anything that eats this modified organism, or continual contact with said organism you will become infertile and might die from genetic mutation, aka cancer. Canada and Europe will not use GM because of this, this is their scientists report not mine. With Monsanto involved using genetic modification that involves bacteria it is the end of the world.
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