Extremists drawing attention to themselves, causes
Feb 20, 2002 12:00 PM, By Edgar W. Duskin Executive Vice President Southern Crop Production Association
The radical extremists of the environmental left continue to attempt to draw attention to themselves and their causes.
Recently the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) published a 46-page report which supposedly details action by the group's members in 2001. They include actions to liberate animals used for testing, action against GMOs and genetic engineering. They list attacks against 10 fur stores, eight Stephens, Inc. targeted, seven Bank of New York facilities, five research labs, etc.
This list totaled 72 attacks “for animal liberation”, 51 for “earth liberation” and 14 against GMO/GE. Both the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front were involved according to the report.
Other groups and “scientists” continue to release half-baked and spurious scientific reports alleging or claiming GMOs will soon bring an end to the world. Environmentalist David Suzuki recently described a GE bacteria which “could have ended all plant life on the continent.”
Naturally this nonsense grabs media attention and allows screwballs a basis for making radical claims. For example, Oregon State Professor Elaine Ingham seized upon action by a GE bacteria as threatening global consequences. It took many months and diversion of untold resources to finally bring down the canard and rebut it thoroughly.
Claims by another environmentalist author, John Robbins, for example stated that anyone who ate Bt corn was eating a dangerous pesticide. Of course, the organic farmers also reared up on this since they spray Bt directly on their crops especially on corn.
These are but a few instances from the cloud of murky invectives and illegal actions in use by the radicals. This small list does, however, serve to highlight the dangers posed by such actions.
Other than by speaking out and urging our legislatures and regulators to emphasize good science and support GMO use, we can do little on the “verbal front”.
Where direct actions are taken by the radicals we should insist that our legislatures and regulators pass and enforce laws against environmental terrorists. Such actions, if allowed to go unchecked, can be just as dangerous as a similar attack by foreign terrorism.
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