Why do environmental debates almost always turn into polarizing slugfests? Well, such debates focus on problems identified as significant threats to the planet and human welfare. People fight over how big (or negligible) a certain threat is and what the solution should be. The fiercest battles are between people who have different values, which turns into…Continue Reading…
Once upon a time, long before a recent wave of ideological zealotry drove the Republican party to cleanse itself of moderates, appeals for GOP comity were often couched in Ronald Reagan’s eleventh commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican In liberal and environmental circles, a similar dictate seems to now hold, with respect…Continue Reading…
The cover story in the April issue of Discover is about the anti-GMO movement in Europe. I found it interesting but also narrowly centered on the opposition in Germany. For example, the piece neglects to discuss, much less mention, a widely publicized event last summer involving a UK government sponsored research lab. This featured UK scientists mounting…Continue Reading…
Since I’m always on the lookout for helpful advice on how to talk to my friends about GMOs, this tweet caught my eye: Via @foodmythbusters: 7 Things To Tell Your Friends About GMO’s bit.ly/XHYD8G — Danielle Nierenberg (@DaniNierenberg) March 7, 2013 In her bio at the Worldwatch Institute, Nierenberg is listed as “an expert on…Continue Reading…
Science journalist Emily Anthes has a book coming out in March that I’m eager to read. Great title, cool cover! Virginia Hughes recently talked with Anthes about her book. Here’s an excerpt from that interview:
What happens when the ideological agenda of crunchy granola food activists intersects with the religious agenda of anti-abortion activists? You get this (recycled, bizarro) nonsense from a Seattle-based organic food advocacy website: Biotech companies have been using aborted human fetal cells for testing the effectiveness of different flavoring agent in their products. Last year the news came out…Continue Reading…
That is the wickedly clever title of a post by Kevin Folta, a plant geneticist at the University of Florida, in Gainsville. To make his point, Folta, as he says on twitter, uses logic “borrowed from the anti-GMO crowd.” That would be logic like this: Is it a coincidence that autism has risen since GMOs have…Continue Reading…
It’s been almost a month since UK environmental writer Mark Lynas apologized for his prior anti-GMO activism. His speech, let’s recall, was an internet sensation. Many applauded Lynas’s change of heart (he is now firmly pro-GMO), plenty others jeered it, and more than a few rolled their eyes. And everyone has moved on except anti-GMO campaigners….Continue Reading…
Earlier this week, I was dismissive of the GMO labeling movement in a way that didn’t do justice to its core concerns. I wrote: Like climate change, the crazy politics of the GMO debate trump the science. Along those lines, I view the “right to know” campaign (which is part of a larger effort to label…Continue Reading…
When it comes to evolution, no reputable museum would dare “teach the controversy,” a catchphrase used as a ploy by creationists some years back, when they tried to put “intelligent design” on an equal scientific footing with evolutionary biology. The biotech issue, which is a source of much controversy in environmental and food circles, is…Continue Reading…