Good News/Bad News August 15, 2002

When GN/BN took last week off to enjoy nature instead of just writing about it, we feared that based on how things were going in the world, we'd return to a horde of radioactive winged monkeys parading about the capitol. Instead, it seems that things went pretty smoothly in our absence. From local anti-GMO foods initiatives to new, clearer organic labels for foods, the world is looking pretty shiny this week...

Good News

In a groundbreaking move, anti-GMO foods activists have brought a ballot measure to the voters of Oregon that would require all foods with GM ingredients to be labeled. Considering that roughly two-thirds of all packaged foods contain at least some GM ingredients, this bill would certainly open some eyes in the Safeways of the state...

Apparently, "a fungus found in a British dirt sample, and grown in huge fermentation vats" and passed off as a healthy fake meat product could be unhealthy! The Center for Science in the Public Interest has accused the FDA of rushing an unhealthy meat substitute to market and is urging a recall.

We're not sure where to file this one. We think it's good news, but really it's just not-bad news. Apparently, instead of the world's rainforests disappearing by .5 percent per year, they're only disappearing by .3 percent! Not exactly heartening news, but at least they're not disappearing faster than feared.

Like nature's fuel cells: Germany's Max Planck Society has discovered organisms at the bottom of the Black Sea that survive without oxygen by turning methane into nutrients and creating only coral as byproducts. Not only could these organisms potentially curb global warming, but every home could someday have a Great Barrier Reef!

First Denver, next L.A.? Denver this week announced that it is in full compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, and is the first major U.S. city to do so. What's more, even the Republican governor admitted that getting greener was beneficial to their economy.

Once again, this is less good news than it is "Yikes!" news. On August 7, a coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Navy to prevent it from using its new low-frequency, long-range sonar system, on the grounds that it is deadly to sea life the world over. The system, known as LFA, is capable of reaching 140 decibels more than 300 miles away. That's louder than a jet plane taking off. However, in an unforeseen reaction to the suit, the Bush Administration's Justice Department stated on August 13 that the open sea is not subject to U.S. environmental laws. If this argument becomes policy, then it could very well open the door to an unregulated ocean environment where commercial fishing and energy exploration run unchecked. Sometimes, you just can't win.

The USDA has updated its organic foods labeling requirements, and products will soon show up on your grocer's shelves with one of four levels: only products that contain 70 percent or more organic ingredients will be able to use the word organic on labels. We expect Clairol's "Herbal Essences" products to undergo massive label changes...

Two recent developments have shown that the Bush adminstration is taking some steps to address public concerns about genetically modified foods. Sure, they're half-assed steps, but half an ass is better than no ass:

The Department of Agriculture has announced that it will create a program in which food exporters in the U.S. can voluntarily declare if their shipments are GM or not. Whether or not a voluntary program will make any difference remains to be seen, but we believe that once the agribiz giants realize there's almost no one in the world who wants GM food shipments, they may slack off production.

Additionally, Bush's EPA is taking a stand against agribusiness giants. Two subsidiaries of Dow Chemical and DuPont stand accused of planting biotech corn too close to other plots of corn and not sheltering the experimental corn to prevent it from contaminating non-GM corn crops nearby.