Archive for 2002
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Monday, May 13th, 2002By Dr. Norman Borlaug
Thirty-two years ago, I was chosen to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, representing the thousands of researchers who created the higher crop yields of the Green Revolution. The extra food created saved perhaps a billion people from starving in the 1960s.
Today, we are faced with another, equally enormous task. We must learn […]
Will Congress Enact This Terrible Farm Policy
Wednesday, May 8th, 2002Dennis T. Avery
CHURCHVILLE, VA—America’s farmers are ecstatic. They think the huge new far and ethanol subsidies being considered by the Congress mean the public has finally realized their importance to the country. I with that was true.
The unfortunate truth is that short-term politics are driving both Republicans and Democrats toward farm policies that betray both […]
Expect Fewer, Milder Tropical Storms As Weather Warms
Tuesday, May 7th, 2002Dennis T. Avery
CHURCHVILLE, VA—The “sky is falling” alarmists—eco-activists, politicized government scientists and, of course, Al Gore—are willing to attribute any extreme bit of weather to man’s infinitely small role in the Earth’s slight global warming.
The World Wildlife Fund says “superhurricanes could become more commonplace unless governments do more to combat global warming.” The U.S. government’s […]
Greenpeace Co-Founder Backs High-Yield Forestry
Wednesday, May 1st, 2002Dr. Patrick Moore
VANCOUVER, B.C.—When I helped found Greenpeace back in the early 1970s, I believed that protest was the way to bring attention to the environment. At that time, eco-issues were below the radar screen. No one thought about saving whales or protecting wildlife habitat.
Today, I still want to save the environment, but there’s […]
High-Yield Heroes Say Growing More Per Acre Leaves More For Nature
Tuesday, April 30th, 2002Dennis T. Avery
WASHINGTON, DC—A remarkably broad coalition of international heroes—including two Nobel Peace Prize laureates—is calling for sustainably higher yields of crops and forest products in the crucial 50 years just ahead. They say we cannot save the forests and wild species, let alone end global hunger, if we rely on low-yield production of food […]
We’re Poisoning Our Kids–But Not With Pesticides
Wednesday, April 24th, 2002Dennis T. Avery
CHURCHVILLE, VA-A folk singer named Raffi recently got a headline in the Toronto Globe and Mail by asserting, “We’re poisoning our children. . . . Today’s produce is full of toxic residue, and our children are most at risk.”
I agree that we are needlessly poisoning our children—but not with pesticide residues. We’re […]
Anti-Global Movement A Heartwarming Failure
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2002Dennis T. Avery
CHURCHVILLE, VA-In case you missed the heartwarming failure of the anti-global demonstrations in Washington last weekend, let me recap the key events:
Nobody really paid much attention to the announced protest targets: the World Bank and big corporations, or to the once-looming threat of genetically engineered crops. The biggest event of the protest […]
Anti-Biotech Group Scares Wall Street Journal
Friday, April 19th, 2002Dennis T. Avery
CHURCHVILLE, VA-The normally careful Wall Street Journal recently told us that Monsanto had discovered “genetic pollution” in its Roundup-tolerant canola seeds. Journal reporter Scott Kilman hinted darkly at massive recalls of vegetable oils and food products, as happened with the StarLink taco shells two years ago.
The scary Kilman story was sourced to […]
The World’s Two Biggest Countries Surge Into Biotech Crops
Tuesday, April 16th, 2002Dennis T. Avery
CHURCHVILLE, VA-The activist campaign to block genetically modified crops has probably been lost. This spring, India and China, the world’s two biggest countries, jumped into crop biotechnology with both feet.
After five years of dithering, India finally—and yet suddenly—approved biotech cotton. The Indian bureaucrats were finally shoved into action, over the objections of […]
The March of Progress
Thursday, April 11th, 2002Dennis T. Avery
Biotech’s Bright Promise Of A Better Life Made Huge Strides As April Dawned
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The man who supplanted Jeremy Rifkin as the world’s most famous anti-biotechnology activist turned up in the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in early April - which is starting off as a great month for biotechnology.
Jose Bove, the […]