11/12/04

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1. Bush Administration Rejects Another Global Warming Study
2 Groups Charge U.S. Promoted Seed Monopoly in Iraq
3. White House Attacks NAFTA Conclusions on GMO
4. The Old Way May Not be the Right Way

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1. BUSH ADMINSTRATION REJECTS ANOTHER GLOBAL 
WARMING REPORT

The Bush Administration has rejected a new global warming report 
released this week with sobering findings by more than 250 
scientists. The document asserts that global warming is heating the 
Arctic almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet and this thaw 
threatens the livelihoods of millions of people and could cause 
intensive ecological disruptions including the extinction of polar 
bears. Funded by eight nations including the United States, the 
study is the biggest survey to date of the Arctic climate and found 
that: "Earth's climate is changing with the global temperature now 
rising at a rate unprecedented in the experience of modern human 
society." According to the Associated Press who yesterday 
contacted White House spokesmen on the issue, "President Bush is 
continuing his rejection of mandatory curbs on greenhouse gases 
that are blamed for global warming." 

http://www.elitestv.com/pub/2004/Nov/EEN41913719c7c30.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35233-2004Nov8.html

GROUPS CHARGE U.S. PROMOTED SEED MONOPOLY IN 
IRAQ

According to a press release put out by GRAIN and "Focus on the 
Global South" the so-called "reconstruction" of Iraq has created 
changes in Iraq patent law which imposes "a system of monopoly 
rights over seeds." The release maintains that the long standing 
practice by Iraq farmers of saving and replanting seed "has been 
made illegal under the new law." The release continues saying 
that, "The seeds farmers are now allowed to plant – `protected' 
crop varieties brought into Iraq by transnational corporations in the 
name of agricultural reconstruction - will be the property of the 
corporations." According to GRAIN these changes were made by 
form Coalition Provisional Authority administrator L. Paul 
Bremmer III before the transfer of power in June 2004 and will 
remain in effect unless changed by the new Iraqi government.

http://www.grain.org/articles/?id=6

WHITE HOUSE ATTACKS NAFTA CONCLUSIONS 

When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was 
signed, farmers, conservationists and indigenous people were all 
assured that their interests would be protected. Now, just when a 
scientific panel of international experts has advanced shocking 
warnings about the risks of GMO corn to Mexican farmers, the 
Bush Administration is attacking the groups' recommendations as 
"unscientific." As reported yesterday in the Washington Post, 
conclusions by the expert panel found that the unintended spread of 
U.S. genetically modified corn in Mexico "should be limited or 
stopped." This prompted the EPA and the US Trade Representative 
to quickly issue a release saying, "This report is fundamentally 
flawed and unscientific; key recommendations are not based on 
sound science and are contradicted by the report's own scientific 
findings," Norman C. Ellstrand, a University of California at 
Riverside geneticist and member of the NAFTA-appointed panel 
said of the affair. "How would Americans feel…? We would be 
outraged, and so are many Mexicans. Like us, they have the right 
to make up their own minds about genetically modified crops."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37992-
2004Nov9.html?sub=new

THE TRADITIONAL WAY MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT WAY

In Eastern Oregon, the idea of sustainable agriculture is catching 
on. While western Oregon sports about 28,000 acres of organic 
food production, only 6,100 acres in eastern Oregon are devoted to 
organics. But this seems to be changing as farmers warm up to a 
growing consumer demand. The Organic Trade Association, for 
instance, says organic food sales grew from about $1 billion in 1990 
to $10.38 billion in 2003. "We've been farming the traditional way 
for 50 years and we've been doing it the same old way, sprays and 
herbicides, everything you've gotta do to provide a crop," said 
Walchli, a Hermiston, Oregon grower. "That was how we worked. 
The traditional way may not be the right way." 

http://www.magicvalley.com/news/business/index.asp?StoryID=67
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Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
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