The Institute of Science in Society
Science Society Sustainability
http://www.i-sis.org.uk
ISIS Press Release 24/05/05
Announcing Science in Society #26, Summer 2005
The only radical science magazine on earth
From the Editor
When corporations rule the world
The Black Hills of South Dakota in the United States are famous for
two gigantic monuments, each sculpted out of a mountain. One, still
to be completed, is in honour of Crazy Horse, Indian leader belonging
to the Lakota tribe, who led his peoples in fierce battles for their
right to land and livelihood against the intruding European settlers.
A short distance away, on land stolen from Crazy Horse and his
peoples, is Mount Rushmore, the "shrine of democracy", complete with
the towering faces of four US presidents - George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln - gazing serenely
into the distance.
Today, American farmers are fighting for both democracy and their
livelihood against the corporate overlords. Feudalism has returned to
farming in the US and Canada, according to a report published by the
Center for Food Safety.
Farmers buying GM seeds are required to sign technology agreements
that relinquish to Monsanto their right to plant, harvest and sell
the GM seeds and also leave them vulnerable to harassment from the
company, such as having their property investigated, litigations and
out of court settlements.
Farmers not buying GM seeds are not spared, as Canadian farmer Percy
Schmeiser learned when he found his fields contaminated by Monsanto’s
GM canola, and has had to spend years locked in a harrowing battle
with the company accusing him of infringing its patent rights in a
legal system that’s on the side of the corporation. He was not alone
in being persecuted by Monsanto, although he was unique in not giving
up the fight to the very end.
To-date, Monsanto has filed 90 lawsuits against American farmers
involving 147 farmers and 39 small businesses, with an estimated $15m
gained from judgments granted in its favour. Since 1999, some 500
farmers have been investigated and harassed by Monsanto every year.
The Center for Food Safety has set up a hotline for farmers (p.48).
The fight against corporate feudalism is not restricted to North
America. Farmers across the globe have been battling for their
livelihood and their traditional democratic right to plant, harvest,
and sell the seeds of their choice against Monsanto and its
subsidiaries pushing GM crops through hype, half- truths, lies, and
even bribery, uncovered recently in Indonesia (see <http://www.i-
sis.org.uk/isisnews/sis25.php>SiS25).
Indian farmers have been driven into debt and suicide after three
successive years of failed harvests from planting GM cotton since
three varieties were approved for commercial growing in 2002.
Independent researchers and film-makers have documented the failures,
and exposed Monsanto’s trail of propaganda, including a doctored
report attempting to exaggerate the yields of its GM cotton, thereby
substantially reducing the compensation it owes to farmers for crop
failures in Andhra Pradesh. A coalition of ngos called on the Indian
Prime Minister to withdraw Bt cotton, referring to its imposition on
farmers as a "scientific fraud".
Since March 2005, however, the country’s Genetic Engineering Advisory
Committee (GEAC) has approved 22 new varieties of Monsanto-derived Bt
cotton seed for commercial growing, twelve in the central states,
four in the south, six for the first time in the fertile northern
state; and eleven new varieties for large-scale trials in the fertile
northern states.
In May 2005, the ngos and farmers’ organisations in Andhra Pradesh
claimed a significant victory. The GEAC discontinued the commercial
cultivation of all three Monsanto varieties approved in 2002 in the
state. This victory in Andhra Pradesh may spur opposition in other
parts of India where the GM cotton has still to be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, the United States has put in place a new
legislation under "Order 81", which gives protection to "new and
improved plant varieties", paving the way for patenting plant
varieties, and for introducing GM crops into the country. It will
effectively bring the country’s agricultural sector under the control
of corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta; and at a time when Iraq
is experiencing a food crisis. Iraq, once self-sufficient in
agriculture, has seen its food production collapse since the first
Gulf War; and more than half of the population is now affected by
food insecurity. The United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) is ostensibly helping rebuild Iraq’s farming
sector under the Agriculture Reconstruction and Development Program
for Iraq, but critics say it is really to help corporations
capitalize on market opportunities.
Science and democracy
Scientists, like farmers, have fallen prey to corporate feudalism;
and there is a disturbing trend within the scientific establishment
against democracy. The latest high profile victim Ignacio Chapela is
fighting for tenure at the University of California at Berkeley -
once the hotbed of radicalism and independence now beholden to
Novartis - simply because he and his graduate student had published
scientific findings uncomfortable for the biotech industry. Please
help his campaign
(<http://www.tenurejustice.org/pages/donations.html>
http://www.tenurejustice.org/pages/donations.html). (Note: Chapela
has just been granted tenure, to the delight of all his supporters.
This is a most significant victory against corporate feudalism. We
thank him for all the hard work and the hardships he has endured on
our behalf.)
Behind the persecution of scientists who dare to tell the truth are
the many scientists who have given up the fight, or have willingly
chosen to serve the corporate agenda.
As Michael Meacher, ex-environment minister and UK Member of
Parliament points out (p.5), "companies have learned that small
investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programmes or
hiring professors for out-of-hours projects can produce
disproportionate payoffs in generating reports, articles, reviews and
books, which may not be in the public interest, but certainly benefit
corporate bottom lines." A recent study found that of the five
scientific committees advising the UK government on food and safety,
40 percent of the committee members had links with the biotech
industry, and at least 20 percent were linked to one of the Big
Three: Monsanto, AstraZeneca, or Novartis.
Meacher told a public conference on science, medicine and the law
that we need independent science and scientists who take the
precautionary principle seriously, and called for sweeping changes in
science funding and scientific advice to the government that will
ensure the protection of independent science, and hence, the public.
Science for a sustainable world
As Europe is finalising its Framework Programme 7 for the next round
of public research funding, the Independent Science Panel (ISP) has
submitted a comment to the European Commission, demanding maximum
transparency and democratic input in deciding funding and research
priorities, support for independent science and scientists and
explicit funding criteria that includes ethical and safety
considerations.
The ISP also wants a redistribution of research budget away from
industry- and technology-driven areas like genomics and information
technologies towards sustainable agriculture, ecology and energy use
in sustainable systems, and holistic health. This is particularly
relevant as the "gene gold" predicted for the human genome project is
rapidly turning to dust (this issue) and the safety of mobile phones
and newer generations of telecommunication technologies are
increasingly called into question (<http://www.i-
sis.org.uk/isisnews/sis25.php>SiS25). At the same time, evidence is
mounting that the most environmentally destructive and energy
intensive aspects of our food production system can all be addressed
by sustainable alternatives (see especially the multiple uses of
forests featured in this issue). More than 200 organisations and
individuals from 32 countries have endorsed the ISP comment so far,
including many university professors and researchers that some of you
will recognize. Add your name here
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/ISPF7.php> http://www.i-sis.org.uk/ISPF7.php
The relentless march towards corporate feudalism across the globe is
another major reason why no one can afford to do nothing. Please
support the Sustainable World Global Initiative to make our food
production system sustainable, to ameliorate climate change, to
guarantee food security and food sovereignty for everyone, and most
of all, to dismantle the corporate empire: <http://www.i-
sis.org.uk/SustainableWorldInitiativeF.php>
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/SustainableWorldInitiativeF.php
All SiS issues and articles can be accessed on ISIS members website:
<http://www-i-sis.org.uk/isisnews.php>
http://www-I-sis.org.uk/isisnews.php
Science under the Spotlight
Which Science or Scientists Can You Trust?
Science versus Democracy?
Support Independent Science!
ISP News
Sustainable World Global Initiative
Letters to the Editor
Toxic Watch
Death Domains in New Bio-pesticides
Glyphosate Toxic & Roundup Worse
Roundup Kills Frogs
Save Our Forests
GM Forest Trees - The Ultimate Threat
Terminator Trees
Multiple Uses of Forests
Sustainable Multi-cultures for Asia & Europe View from MADS House
GM Trees Lost in China’s Forests
GM-Free
Syngenta’s GM Maize Scandals
Europe Acts Swiftly to Keep Out Unapproved GM Maize India’s GM Cotton Fraud
Ban GM Probiotics
Iraqi Government Urged to Revoke "Cynical and Wicked" Patent Law GM
Crop Fails Final Test
Monsanto versus Farmers
Gene gold turning to dust?
No Biotech Revolution in Sight
Biotech Wonder Tool in Disarray
Gene Therapy Woes
Controversy over Gene Therapy ‘Breakthrough’ Why Genomics Won’t Deliver
Rethinking Health
Health-promoting Germs
Knotty but Nice: Spectacular Anti-Cancer Agents in Tree Knots
Biological agents
No Biosecurity without Biosafety
No to GM Smallpox!
This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/
_______________________________________________
Biofuel mailing list
Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org
Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages):
http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/