Sweet victory for Mexico beekeepers as Monsanto loses GM permit
Sweet victory for Mexico beekeepers as Monsanto loses GM permit
Evidence convinced judge of threat posed to honey production in Yucatán – but firm will almost certainly appeal against ruling
Posted by
Nina Lakhani
Friday 8 August 2014 07.22 EDT
theguardian.com
[font size=1]
Greenpeace activists and Mayans form a human chain to spell out the words ‘ma ogm’,
which translates as ‘no gmo’ (genetically modified organisms).
Photograph: Arturo Rocha/Greenpeace[/font]
A small group of beekeepers in Mexico has inflicted a blow on biotech giant Monsanto, which has halted the company’s ambitions to plant thousands of hectares of soybeans genetically modified to resist the company’s pesticide Roundup.
A district judge in the state of Yucatán last month overturned a permit issued to Monsanto by Mexico’s agriculture ministry, Sagarpa, and environmental protection agency, Semarnat, in June 2012 that allowed commercial planting of Roundup-ready soybeans.
The permit authorised Monsanto to plant its seeds in seven states, over more than 253,000 hectares (625,000 acres), despite protests from thousands of Mayan farmers and beekeepers, Greenpeace, the Mexican National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas and the National Institute of Ecology.
In withdrawing the permit, the judge was convinced by the scientific evidence presented about the threats posed by GM soy crops to honey production in the Yucatán peninsula, which includes Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán states. Co-existence between honey production and GM soybeans is not possible, the judge ruled.
Mexico is the world’s six biggest producer and third largest exporter of honey. About 25,000 families on the Yucatán peninsula depend on honey production. This tropical region produces about 40% of the country’s honey, almost all of which is exported to the EU. This is not small change: in 2011, the EU imported $54m (£32m) worth of Mexican honey.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/aug/08/sweet-victory-beekeepers-monsanto-gm-soybeans
= new reply since forum marked as read
the good guys are winning today. So much crap going all over the place. 
Oooops, "Science"!
"In withdrawing the permit, the judge was convinced by the scientific evidence presented about the threats posed by GM soy crops to honey production in the Yucatán peninsula, which includes Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán states. Co-existence between honey production and GM soybeans is not possible, the judge ruled."
We're still doing alright on Kaua'i~ 
Hope you've seen the very worst part of these storms, Cha. Glad to see you're doing O.K. at the moment.
Also, as I thought about it after last night, I wondered if climate change will put your beautiful area in jeopardy more often. I really, really hope that won't be the case. People have enough to deal with without worrying about catastrophes from the sky!
Best wishes.
And, of course, they're suing.. and Monsanto and types are suing Kauai because we voted to hold them accountable in revealing what kinds of poisons they're spraying.. and asking for buffer zones around schools and hospitals. They didn't like that.
Latest I could find on Julio which is the one to watch out for now..
snip//
"As Hawaii residents clean up from Tropical Storm Iselle, they are bracing for the arrival of Category 2 Hurricane Julio which is expected to make landfall as early as Sunday.
Tropical Storm Iselle pummeled the Hawaiian Islands with high winds and heavy rain on Friday, forcing hundreds to seek shelter and knocking out power to over 20,000 people as residents kept a wary eye on an even more powerful storm headed their way."
Iselle weakened into a tropical storm before reaching Hawaii and officials said it was blunted to some extent by the state's mountainous Big Island, though high winds and heavy rain were still expected to lash smaller islands in the chain.
"The fact that the storm appears a bit benign at the moment is due to the fact that it hit the Big Island. This is not Kansas, this is not Florida," Governor Neil Abercrombie told a news conference.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iselle-hawaii-hurricanes-20140808-story.html
And, this on what you were thinking about last night..
snip//
Kauai and Western Islands:
Kauai took the brunt of Hawaii’s last hurricane strike, Iniki, in 1992, but should have the least impacts of the major islands this time around. Still, folks on Kauai can expect up to a foot of heavy rain from Iselle alone and additional rain from Julio until Monday night. Flash floods and mudslides are nearly certain in places.
Thanks to warming seas and expected changes in atmospheric circulation patterns associated with climate change, Hawaii’s hurricane threat is expected to increase in coming decades. A recent study showed this effect could send two to three times more storms Hawaii’s way by the end of the century. Since Hawaii’s hurricanes are so rare, such an increase might be difficult to detect, however."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/08/06/hurricane_iselle_tropical_storm_julio_what_hawaii_can_expect.html
Mahalo, and same to you, Judi Lynn~
against them. Their worst enemy is democracy. Wonderful the people got a chance to participate in these decisions.
Yours is the first news I've heard about Julio today. Even bigger than Iselle. Thanks a lot, right? I'd think four days of this stuff is more than enough hurricane to endure. So much rain.
We continue to keep you in mind as you slog through the next part of this double hurricane. Hoping you'll be safe, and dry, with your house intact. You're experiencing something very, VERY few DU'ers will every experience in their lifetimes.
There should be a day set aside after Julio clears out for people to recuperate from storm exhaustion, to get some needed sleep, and another day to get things back to normal!
Thanks for your helpful update. Stay safe.
Our Primary Election is today and I'm off to vote for the Progressive in the Dem Senate race!
Your progressive's win would be everyone's win.
It's great hearing unexpected good news.