Agriculture
Agriculture
What’s missing from claims that neonicotinoids are killing bees, birds and fish?
Pesticides continually get a bad rap, much of it undeserved, some of it bizarre. A recently published study from Japan seems to show that neonicotinoid insecticides (“neonics”), used around the world to protect crops from insect infestations, are so destructive that even before they were on the market or ever used ...
Agriculture
A Fishy Study Posits That Pesticides Can Travel Back In Time
It’s not surprising that many people are skeptical about “scientific” findings. A new study from Japan seems to show that neonicotinoid insecticides (“neonics”), used around the world to protect crops from insect infestations, are so destructive that even before they were on the market or ever used in farmers’ fields, ...
Agriculture
Tales of Woe: How Dysfunctional Regulation Has Decimated Entire Sectors of Biotechnology
“To observe government is to observe the absence of accountability,” James Freeman wrote in the Wall Street Journal.1 That’s certainly true of unwise regulation of many innovative technologies; and modern biotechnology, also known as “genetic engineering (GE)” or “genetic modification (GM),” perhaps along with civilian applications of nuclear power, could be ...
Agriculture
Trump Opens Floodgates In California — Will The State Fight Him Or Be Grateful For The Help?
California’s 55 electoral votes won’t go to President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, but he can expect the state’s farmers support. The White House announced on Oct. 22 it will pump water where it’s vital for human needs rather than hold it back on behalf of the Chinook salmon, ...
Agriculture
Documentary ‘Modified’ peddles falsehoods about GMOs, pesticides and ‘corporate control’ of food
Propaganda has been manufactured and promulgated through the ages, and in modern times it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II when useful lies became preferred to harmful truths. That still rings true today, with the explosion of propaganda wars aided by the Internet, texting, social media, and the ...
Agriculture
Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ is poking at corporate activists
Many of America’s largest public corporations recently made a commitment in principle to their “stakeholders,” which included working with their communities and “protect[ing] the environment by embracing sustainable practices.” Leaders of 181 of the 193 member companies of the prominent Business Roundtable promised to “deliver value.” It gave us a sense of ...
Agriculture
What Does the Governor’s Veto of SB 1 Mean?
California’s state government has embraced a policy of resisting nearly every federal government policy pursued by the Trump Administration. Legislation, executive orders, and lawsuits serve the dual purpose of forwarding the state’s progressive agenda and pushing back against federal policies from Washington D.C. Many have expressed surprise over Governor Newsom’s ...
Agriculture
Organic Industry Anti-Pesticide Propaganda Threatens to Cripple American Agriculture
In The Wealth of Nations, the 18th century economist and philosopher Adam Smith observed about the chicanery of some businessmen, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” ...
Agriculture
California Lawmakers Always Thirsty for More Water Laws
Water policy is one of those topics that can leave newcomers and casual listeners feeling inundated. The regulations that govern state and federal water policy are laced with a flood of acronyms and terms, with a steady gush of changes to state water policy and regulation over the past decade. ...
Agriculture
Plants could give us new treatments for cancer, HIV and other diseases if we had better ‘pharming’ regulations
Politicians talk a lot about farming but seldom about “pharming,” even though the latter can also have a big impact on Americans’ pocketbooks—and their health. The punny name refers to genetically modifying plants such as corn, rice, tobacco and alfalfa to produce high concentrations of pharmaceutical ingredients. Many common medicines ...
What’s missing from claims that neonicotinoids are killing bees, birds and fish?
Pesticides continually get a bad rap, much of it undeserved, some of it bizarre. A recently published study from Japan seems to show that neonicotinoid insecticides (“neonics”), used around the world to protect crops from insect infestations, are so destructive that even before they were on the market or ever used ...
A Fishy Study Posits That Pesticides Can Travel Back In Time
It’s not surprising that many people are skeptical about “scientific” findings. A new study from Japan seems to show that neonicotinoid insecticides (“neonics”), used around the world to protect crops from insect infestations, are so destructive that even before they were on the market or ever used in farmers’ fields, ...
Tales of Woe: How Dysfunctional Regulation Has Decimated Entire Sectors of Biotechnology
“To observe government is to observe the absence of accountability,” James Freeman wrote in the Wall Street Journal.1 That’s certainly true of unwise regulation of many innovative technologies; and modern biotechnology, also known as “genetic engineering (GE)” or “genetic modification (GM),” perhaps along with civilian applications of nuclear power, could be ...
Trump Opens Floodgates In California — Will The State Fight Him Or Be Grateful For The Help?
California’s 55 electoral votes won’t go to President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, but he can expect the state’s farmers support. The White House announced on Oct. 22 it will pump water where it’s vital for human needs rather than hold it back on behalf of the Chinook salmon, ...
Documentary ‘Modified’ peddles falsehoods about GMOs, pesticides and ‘corporate control’ of food
Propaganda has been manufactured and promulgated through the ages, and in modern times it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II when useful lies became preferred to harmful truths. That still rings true today, with the explosion of propaganda wars aided by the Internet, texting, social media, and the ...
Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ is poking at corporate activists
Many of America’s largest public corporations recently made a commitment in principle to their “stakeholders,” which included working with their communities and “protect[ing] the environment by embracing sustainable practices.” Leaders of 181 of the 193 member companies of the prominent Business Roundtable promised to “deliver value.” It gave us a sense of ...
What Does the Governor’s Veto of SB 1 Mean?
California’s state government has embraced a policy of resisting nearly every federal government policy pursued by the Trump Administration. Legislation, executive orders, and lawsuits serve the dual purpose of forwarding the state’s progressive agenda and pushing back against federal policies from Washington D.C. Many have expressed surprise over Governor Newsom’s ...
Organic Industry Anti-Pesticide Propaganda Threatens to Cripple American Agriculture
In The Wealth of Nations, the 18th century economist and philosopher Adam Smith observed about the chicanery of some businessmen, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” ...
California Lawmakers Always Thirsty for More Water Laws
Water policy is one of those topics that can leave newcomers and casual listeners feeling inundated. The regulations that govern state and federal water policy are laced with a flood of acronyms and terms, with a steady gush of changes to state water policy and regulation over the past decade. ...
Plants could give us new treatments for cancer, HIV and other diseases if we had better ‘pharming’ regulations
Politicians talk a lot about farming but seldom about “pharming,” even though the latter can also have a big impact on Americans’ pocketbooks—and their health. The punny name refers to genetically modifying plants such as corn, rice, tobacco and alfalfa to produce high concentrations of pharmaceutical ingredients. Many common medicines ...
