Senator bets the farm against Monsanto

[marmar]

from Grist:


Could the Monsanto Protection Act get repealed?
By Claire Thompson


Smuggled into the bill President Obama signed to avert a government shutdown in March was a sneaky little rider called the “farmer assurance provision.” It’s since come to be known as the Monsanto Protection Act, being very assuring to the biotech giant, if no one else. It allows farmers to plant genetically modified crops before they’ve been declared safe by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in defiance of court orders suspending planting until environmental reviews can be completed.

Once food-advocacy groups and then the general public found out about the quietly passed provision, outcry against it spread, in the form of petitions and even rare displays of bipartisan solidarity. On Monday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced that he’s introducing an amendment to the Senate version of the farm bill that would repeal the Monsanto Protection Act in its entirety.

“The Monsanto Protection Act is an outrageous example of a special interest loophole,” said Merkley in a press release. “This provision nullifies the actions of a court that is enforcing the law to protect farmers, the environment and public health. That is unacceptable.” ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/news/could-the-monsanto-protection-act-get-repealed/

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[dipsydoodle]

2. repeal the Monsanto Protection Act in its entirety......

[Berlum]

3. Important stuff. K and r.

[LWolf]

4. Kudos to my Senator.

[classof56]

7. I definitely second that!

Glad the local 911 measure passed, BTW.

Take care!

[condoleeza]

20. My Senator too

good for him and we defeated water fluoridation in Portland yesterday as well.

[tex-wyo-dem]

5. K & R! nt

[Bluenorthwest]

6. Merkely is the best Senator I have ever had.

I'm so glad he's in the Senate and that Oregon had the sense to elect him.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

18. And DeFazio in the Congress, what a pair.

[L0oniX]

8. So I guess Obama didn't know about this "Smuggled" Monsanto protection perk.

Mean while our diplomats push for Monsanto product deals to other countries. Is this government corrupted yet?

[BrotherIvan]

9. +1

It is a cancer on this planet. Sci-fi warned about the rise of the machines, but in this case, it's going to be the plants that get us. And if we let it happen, we absolutely deserve it.

[L0oniX]

11. Corporations and our government are killing us.

[BrotherIvan]

12. Nature's got a reset button

And she's willing to push it at any time. I do hope that these GMO monstrosities are relatively fragile and without human care will die out and the wild species, used to struggling for survival, will win in the end. I wonder how long it will take for the oceans to rid themselves of the toxic stew we have dumped in it or what new species will evolve if the environment is forever changed. But I still have my money on cockroaches.

[Le Taz Hot]

10. K & R

Thank you, Sen. Merkley! I'm also encouraged to hear that they were inundated with petitions and angry constituents. It goes to prove that we still have a little sliver of Democracy left.

[Jakes Progress]

13. It's easier to understand when you realize

that our elected officials are not working for us. They don't give a rat's ass about you or me. They only want our vote and they buy that with the money the corporations give them. I seriously doubt that there are 20 decent people up there.

[djean111]

26. Agree totally.

You think there are as many as 20?

[ReRe]

14. I say...

...Repeal Monsanto, period.

[maindawg]

16. I have a radical idea

why dont they figure out a way to limit amendments to the purpose of the bill?

[Catch2.2]

17. Fuck Monsanto!

That is all.

[hopemountain]

19. the author(s) of the amendment

tagged onto the bill signed by the president are anonymous! no one will admit to writing this garbage.

[midnight]

21. K&R

[HiPointDem]

22. kr

[madokie]

23. This is how nefarious laws get into being by bought and paid for congress critters underhanded ways.

This needs to be repealed and soon before our food supply is tainted further.

[carla]

24. GMO's

are death. Death of variety, death of insects, death of habitat, death of choice, death of democracy. Monsanto is MONSATAN. Death to Monsatan. BOYCOTT.

[madokie]

25. What you said