White House's "Agriculture Biotech Working Group" promoting GE crops in wildlife refuges

[tpsbmam]

Holy shit. I'm speechless. Just holy shit!

From Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

In an effort to boost exports, the Obama White House has entered into a joint venture with the agricultural biotechnology industry to remove barriers to the spread of genetically engineered (GE) crops, even on national wildlife refuges, according to documents posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Today, PEER sued the White House Trade Representative, Office of Management & Budget (OMB) and the State Department to force release of documents detailing their partnership with industry.

Recent successful lawsuits brought by PEER with the Center for Food Safety have underlined the incompatibility of GE crops with refuge habitats, which has strengthened objections from GE-averse nations. The Biotechnology Industry Association (BIO), whose most prominent member is Monsanto, the world’s biggest source of GE crops, approached the Obama White House for assistance. In late 2010, the White House formed an interagency “Agriculture Biotech Working Group” consisting of more than 35 officials from ten agencies to promote GE agriculture. This Working Group includes officials from the White House and its OMB, Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Trade Rep. It also has officials from State, Justice, Agriculture, EPA and FDA.

A central task of this Working Group is to legally insulate GE crops on refuges from further litigation. Initially, it tried to pressure the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which operates the National Wildlife Refuge System, to rescind its Ecological Integrity Policy, which forbids GE planting unless found to be essential to accomplishing a refuge purpose. Working with BIO, these officials then helped prepare environmental assessments to start paving a legal path for GE plantings on 75 refuges in 30 states.

“With all the environmental challenges facing this country, why is the White House priority putting wildlife refuges under the thumb of Monsanto?” asked PEER Staff Counsel Kathryn Douglass, who filed today’s Freedom of Information Act suits. “It is frankly depressing that the top White House official for ecosystem recovery is hustling genetically altered soybeans on slivers of land set aside for wildlife.”

From a different news release:

Rather than overturn this FWS “Biological Integrity” policy outright, the White House has embarked on a region-by-region approach to file environmental paperwork justifying GE agriculture on –

31 refuge units across 8 Midwestern states;
25 refuges units in 12 Southeastern states; and
17 refuges in the 8-state Mountain Prairie Region.
The proposal for the Midwestern Refuges would allow more than 20,000 acres to be cultivated with no limits on how many acres could be GE crops. The public comment deadline for that plan is today. In its comments, PEER argues that the GE operations risk harm to wildlife, refuge plants and soil, while contending that there is no refuge purpose for which GE crops are essential, as required by FWS policy.

“These plans are based on the curious notion that wildlife benefit from having the small slivers of habitat set aside for them covered by genetically engineered soybeans,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting the Midwest refuges are already surrounded by row crops, most of which are now GE. “To boost U.S. exports, the Obama administration is forcing wildlife refuges into political prostitution.”

<snip>

“The Obama administration says that it is devoted to scientific integrity but these new reviews are scientific travesties,” added Ruch, pointing to new Interior Department (which includes FWS) rules requiring that scientific information in decision- making “must be robust, of the highest quality, and the result of the most rigorous scientific processes as can be achieved.” “The sole document assessing the environmental impacts of genetically engineered planting in 25 Southeastern refuges is only six pages long.”

I'm sorry -- what a crock of BS Michele Obama's organic garden is when her husband is foisting this on the country....and being very secretive about it.


:grr: :grr:

[Peregrine Took]

1. What a crock! How could rethugs be any worse than this "crop?" n/t

[Donnachaidh]

2. I was just saying the same thing to my brother.

It's unbelievable. :puke:

[joeybee12]

3. Exactly! I am so sick of people saying the alternative is worse when what we;ve

got is this bloody awful.

[Lorien]

4. Good question. At least we all fought against the repugs

these DLCers get away with anything and everything.

[tpsbmam]

5. He is beyond a DLCer

IMO....he's pretty damn right-wing. No, he's not insane, Michele Bachmann right-wing, but he's too bloody right-wing corporatist for me!

I mean, Clinton got on my nerves, but Obama has fried my last nerve!