Here's the latest enormity from AgBioView -- the pro-GM list that previously sent out postings claiming opponents of GM crops were worse that Hitler and accusing Greenpeace of murder (a claim subsequently retracted after it was pointed out that it was Greenpeace which had been on the receiving end of a murderous attack).
AgBioView has now published comment by the editor of '21st Century Science & Technology' claiming Greenpeace "supports terrorism and genocide".
The basis of this somewhat surprising claim? Greenpeace's "opposition to nuclear energy and [support for] the banning of DDT"!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Greenpeace's campaign is highlighting the extremist propaganda of GE promoters.
Below's the comment published on the AgBioView list and first the Greenpeace letter that prompted it.
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'Irresponsible' to Say Biotech Will Feed the World
Letters column, 21st Century Science & Technology, Winter 2000-2001
To the Editor:
Of all the false promises made by the biotechnology industry, the most irresponsible is the suggestion that genetically modified (GM) crops will solve world hunger ("Genetically Engineered Crops Can Feed the World!'' by Channapatna Prakash) [Summer 2000, p. 10]. Aid agencies around the world agree that there is more than enough food currently grown to feed everyone.
At a recent biotech industry conference in Vancouver, Canada, Dr. Prakash pointed out that 800 million people go to bed hungry every night. This is true. These people go to bed hungry for a number of tragic reasons: some because they cannot afford the food which is grown, others because war, political corruption or the general ineptitude of a distribution system denies them access to food. There is no biotech fix for these of GM crops in developing countries will make food even less affordable; at worst it will destroy the biodiversity of these nations and their ability to feed their hungry populations.
While it is understandable that biotech companies and those working on their behalf are seeking any and all potential markets for their products, let's not confuse their desire to make a profit with some altruistic wish to solve world hunger.
To do so is to trivialize a global problem and is, therefore, unforgivable.
- Peter Tabuns, Executive director, Greenpeace Canada
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The Editor Replies:
We find it less than honest that an organization which supports terrorism and genocide (such as by opposition to nuclear energy and the banning of DDT), should label promotion of a useful technology as 'irresponsible" and "unforgivable." http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com