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Wednesday, March 30
Suicide Gene Bill Passes Iowa Senate
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 30 Mar 2005 04:39 AM CST
 Suicide Gene Bill Passes Iowa Senate
by Iowa State Rep. Mark Kuhn (D-Floyd)
Dear Friends,
SF 259,
the companion bill to HF 259, passed the [Iowa] Senate by a vote of
33-16 with 1 absent. I wrote and distributed a two-page letter to
the Senate [yesterday] asking them for further discussions before
passage of the bill, which is sure to be signed by Governor
Vilsack. My last ditch attempt to persuade the Senate to defer on
the bill for this legislative session and call for the appointment of
an interim study committee to study the issue failed. There was a
verbal agreement among Senate leaders to call for the appointment of an
interim study committee, but that was not written into the bill, and it
is not known if even that will happen. Even if it does, it's like
shutting the barn door after the cows are in the cornfield.
I want
to thank each of you for your support during consideration of this
bill. You all played a unique and important role in opposing this
bad piece of legislation. In conclusion, let me say that a democracy
void of discussion is not representative of the voices of the
people. Legislators introducing these preemptive seed laws are
not acting on behalf of the people they represent, they are acting
despite the will of the people.
Thank you for going against the grain and standing up for what's right.
Keep lookin' up,
Rep. Mark Kuhn, Mark.Kuhn@legis.state.ia.us
P.S. Please be assured I'll be writing Governor Vilsack ASAP to ask him to veto this legislation.
Click here to email Gov. Vilsack asking him to veto this dangerous bill.
 A big thank you from Blog for Iowa to Rep. Mark Kuhn for taking the lead on this important issue.
Submitted by Larry Hanus of Waterloo
Sunday, March 27
Congressman Latham Supports Oil Drilling in Alaska
by
Trish Nelson
on Sun 27 Mar 2005 10:19 AM CST
 Congressman Latham Supports Oil Drilling in Alaska
Radio Iowa
by Bob Fisher, KLSS, Mason City
While there's much outcry about
the recent U.S. Senate vote to permit oil-drilling in Alaska's Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, the measure's future is uncertain in the
House. Iowa Congressman Tom Latham, a republican from Alexander, says
he'd support the move, if proper considerations are followed.
Latham says, "If things can be done in a very environmentally friendly
way, we certainly have desperate needs as far as lessening our
dependency on foreign oil."
Latham
says the budget bill that includes the oil-drilling provision also
contains opportunities for renewable resources like ethanol, soy
diesel, biomass and wind energy. Latham says he hopes the nation gets a
legitimate energy bill.
The U.S.
Geological Survey says ANWR's coastal plain represents the largest
untapped oil reserve in the United States, containing between six and
16-billion barrels. The nation currently uses about 20-millon barrels a
day.
(Click here to read the entire story)
Click here to contact Congressman Latham: tom.latham@mail.house.gov
 Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Monday, March 21
U.S. Cosmetics Industry Fights to Continue Using Toxic Chemicals
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 21 Mar 2005 05:53 PM CST
 U.S. Cosmetics Industry Fights to Continue Using Toxic Chemicals
By Kelly Hearn, AlterNet.org
Toxic
cosmetics ingredients were recently banned in the European Union. Here
in the U.S., the $35 billion cosmetics industry is fighting a similar
ban tooth and nail.
Phthalates,
the chemicals used in some cosmetics, may keep your nail polish hard
and shiny and your tresses thick and glossy, but in animal tests they cause birth defects, disrupt hormone systems and lead to reproductive problems.
Those are just a few of the reasons the European Union recently banned
them. Now, despite a huge outcry from the $35 billion cosmetics
industry, some California lawmakers are trying to ban phthalates in the
U.S.
California
Assemblywoman Judy Chu has introduced a bill that would ban the same
two types of phthalates as the EU did. In part because the FDA does not
conduct pre-market health testing of cosmetics ingredients (nor require
cosmetics makers to do so), Chu was moved to present a similar bill
last year that would have banned phthalates and other chemicals
blacklisted by entities like the International Agency for Research on
Cancer, the European Union and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Those
efforts were defeated. But if passed this session, Chu's Phthalates Ban
Bill (AB 908), would be the first ever phthalate ban in the United
States.
"After
three decades of extensive studies [on] carcinogens and reproductive
toxins, the EU banned two phthalates and those are the two that I am
proposing to ban," Chu said in a recent telephone interview. "It is
outrageous that American women aren't give the same protections that
European women are. How can a whole continent of women be protected yet
Americans ignore this?"
...During last year's legislative session, Chu's original bill (AB
2012), would have prohibited phthalates and forced cosmetics
manufacturers to disclose to state officials any hazardous chemicals in
their products. That bill failed to pass the Assembly Health Committee after intense industry opposition.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Cleaning Up Factory Farms
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 21 Mar 2005 04:35 AM CST
 Cleaning Up Factory Farms
By J.R. Pegg, Environment News Service, AlterNet.org
The
Bush administration thinks it's perfectly OK to let factory farms
discharge waste into the nation's waters. A federal appeals court says
the policy stinks.
The Bush
administration's regulations to limit water pollution from factory
farms violate the Clean Water Act and must be revised, a federal
appeals court ruled [last month]. The court found the regulations
failed to ensure that factory farms would be held accountable for
discharging animal wastes into the nation's waters.
...The
decision continues a long-running battle over how to regulate factory
farms – known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). CAFOs
have emerged as the dominant force in the modern production of
agricultural livestock as the size of livestock operations has grown
over the past two decades. These operations produce some 500 million
tons of animal waste annually – disposal and storage of this waste
presents serious risks to public health and the environment.
CAFOs
often over-apply liquid waste on land, which runs off into surface
water, killing fish, spreading disease, and contaminating drinking
water supplies. Waste can leak onto the land and into groundwater and
drinking water supplies from the massive waste storage units on the
farms.
Three
decades ago, the U.S. Congress identified CAFOs as point sources of
water pollution to be regulated under the Clean Water Act's water
pollution permitting program. The 2003 rule aimed to implement that
decision – it applies to some 15,500 livestock operations across the
country.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Saturday, March 19
Update on Biogate: Iowa Suicide Gene Bill
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 19 Mar 2005 04:43 PM CST
Update on Biogate: Iowa Suicide Gene Bill
by Linda Thieman
This past Monday, March 14, the Iowa House, as expected, rushed through the passage of what has come to be known amongst activists as the Suicide Gene Bill. This bill would take away the right of local governments to ban the planting of certain seeds, such as those that have been genetically modified, in order to avoid contamination from cross pollination and other methods. Some GM crops have been modified so that all seed produced from these crops is sterile, hence the name Suicide Gene, forcing farmers to buy new seed every year and robbing Mother Earth of her ability to reproduce.
The Inside Scoop
The expectation was that once the Iowa House rushed the bill through (it passed 70-27), the Iowa Senate, under pressure from Gov. Vilsack, would follow suit. However, according to Carlos Jayne, a lobbyist for Iowa Farmer’s Union, there is some resistance amongst Democrats in the Iowa Senate who feel this “fast track” is too fast. Opponents of the bill hope to get Democrats to stand up in caucus for delaying further consideration of this legislation until next session.
Additionally, it is Jayne’s perception that Vilsack is suddenly less insistent on getting this gift to big agribusiness and the biotech industry passed quickly. This, Jayne believes, is because Sandy Greiner (R-Washington), the representative who introduced the bill in the House, crowed too soon on the floor of the House, claiming support from Vilsack.
Jayne insists, however, that we aren’t winning this battle yet, so “don’t anyone let up.” If the bill actually makes it to the floor of the Senate for a vote, it will probably pass.
Contact your Iowa senator here.
“Democracy Works Best at the Local Level”
One of the fascinating things to come out of this legislative session thus far was the testimony to the Agriculture Committee of the Iowa House regarding the Suicide Gene bill given by George Naylor. Naylor is a farmer from Churdan, Iowa, and is president of the National Family Farm Coalition.
Naylor’s testimony was moving and eloquent. It’s the kind of thing we usually don’t get to hear about. Blog for Iowa is including it here. After the brief excerpt, scroll down and click on more>> to read the full text of Naylor’s testimony.
George Naylor:
As the president of the National Family Farm Coalition representing the hopes of family farmers around the country, my remarks today against passage of H.F. 202 are based on two simple messages: First, don't fall for the idea that H.F. 202 will be of benefit to farmers, and second, democracy works best at the local level which H.F. 202 precisely prohibits. (This applies to siting hog factories, too.)
Democracy depends on a well informed citizenry. This must be why the giant genetic engineering corporations have lied so much to farmers and consumers about their technology. An executive of DuPont-Pioneer Seed-as recently as two years ago was repeating the misleading statement that genetic modification is no different that when people first made bread and beer. You would have to drink a lot of beer to believe that moving genes from one species to another at will is the same as making bread or beer, or for that matter, crossing different varieties within a species. The statements that genetically engineered crops were the most regulated and studied plants in history also led citizens to believe that scientists were confident that there was no need to worry about these products' effects on human health or the environment. The fact is, the crops were only voluntarily registered with the FDA and no transparent scientific studies were ever available for peer review.
The lack of regulation of these GE crops starting from the federal government on down illustrates that the democratic process breaks down the further we move away from our local communities. There has been a widespread cover-up of the lack of regulation and possible dangers of the technology resulting in unbelievable power in the board rooms of giant corporations over our food and the biosphere. I hope the outcome of the debate on H.F. 202 may ironically open up the larger debate and reveal this treacherous cover-up -- I would call it Biogate.
more »
Friday, March 18
The Irony of Bush's Assault on ANWR
by
Chad Thompson
on Fri 18 Mar 2005 01:15 PM CST
 The Irony of Bush's Assault on ANWR
by Jim Hightower
Prior to the vote defeating the Campbell amendment, Jim Hightower wrote this article on the irony of the assault on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:
George W has shown again and
again that he won't ever let reality get in the way of ideology –
whether the issue is his Iraq attack, global warming, privatization of
Social Security, tax cuts for the rich... whatever.
Now the Bushites are even
pushing ideology over geology. BushCheney&Company are determined to
win congressional approval of their plan to allow oil companies to
drill and pump in the pristine reaches of ANWR – the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. George has even played the security card, declaring
that "our national security makes it urgent" to open this unspoiled
wilderness to the oil giants.
But, in a gusher of political
irony, guess what? The oil giants have little interest in drilling
there! Even a Bush advisor on this issue confided that "No oil company
really cares about ANWR," adding that "If the government gave them the
[drilling] leases for free they wouldn't take them." Indeed, Chevron
Texaco, BP, and ConocoPhillips have so little interest in ANWR that
they have withdrawn from Arctic Power, the chief lobbying front behind
Bush's push to open the refuge.
Why the corporate disinterest?
Because, unlike George, companies have to base their decisions at least
partially on reality, and the geological reality is that ANWR doesn't
hold enough oil to make private investment there worthwhile. Only one
actual test of the refuge's oil potential has been done – a secret test
by Chevron Texaco and BP, two of the giants that have now backed away
from Bush's ANWR scheme. If it had real production potential, these
profit-seekers would be lobbying hard to get in there.
What's really behind the
Bushites' insistence on drilling in a wildlife refuge is nothing but
their reactionary, knee-jerk laissez-faire ideology. They hate the idea
that the public can protect any piece of nature from corporate
intrusion – even if the corporations don't choose to intrude. ANWR is a
case of their ideological loopiness.
So, the American public gets a piece of legislation without a real constituency - again!
Monday, March 14
This Week in the Iowa Legislature: Tipping Point for a Ravaged Earth
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 14 Mar 2005 09:15 PM CST
This Week in the Iowa Legislature: Tipping Point for a Ravaged Earth
By Eileen Dannemann, National Coalition of Organized Women
The Tipping Point
Tuesday, March 15th
Steps of the Des Moines State Capitol
10:00am sharp
In the Iowa legislature this week: Genetically Engineered Foods, Seeds, and Cloned Animals unlabeled at the consumer level.
The Biogate Conspiracy: It’s on the fast track.
The word
has come down from the highest government authority, sent through Iowa
Governor Tom Vilsack’s channels, that under no circumstances should
Iowa HF 202 (amended to HF 642) and SBS 1144 (now SF 259) be stopped.
Through this bill, activated in 22 other states, the US, via its
partnership with the Biotech Industry (Biopharmaceutical industrial complex), is finalizing their acreage conversion plan that seeks totalitarian control of production. This is the last hurrah in Iowa to safeguard organic and sustainable agricultural, family farmers and community integrity.
This bill is aimed to sabotage the initiative in Mendocino and Marin
counties in California to ban GMOs and will affect the outcome of bills
all over the nation. If the bill fails in Iowa, by our efforts we
will have affected positively the national movement to save the
integrity of sustainable agriculture and consumer's right to choose.
Iowa is the Tipping Point.
Seven
years have gone by and CODEX, the lawmaking body of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), has succeeded in keeping the issue of labeling off
the calendar. This has enabled Monsanto and friends to covertly convert
185,000,000 acres all over the world into GMO crops even in the face of
great opposition by the European Union. Mexico has now fallen against
its own wishes and the once pristine and diverse corn crops are contaminated.
Many,
and perhaps the majority, of representatives in both the Iowa house and
senate have their orders. But some are beginning to think that a
totalitarian government is not what our founding fathers had in mind.
Others are beginning to see a downright evil hand at work. Shocked by
the temerity of the biotech industry to name their sterilizing
technology the Terminator and the Exorcist,
a few representatives have chosen not to follow orders. Monsanto,
seeking to terminate the reproductive nature of Mother Nature Herself,
has made many downright angry and suspicious of the source of this
bill. It certainly seems that wheat is being separated from chaff when
the choice is either to facilitate the bio-tech story by sabotaging
God’s Law of Abundance through the Terminator and the Exorcist or to
stand up for sustainability, safeguarding the sacredness of the seeds.
Seeds are being genetically manipulated, privately owned and the
quality of a free abundant reproductive nature and availability is
being terminated for the express purpose of monetary gain, with no
consideration of the land or the people. And this is being speedily
processed by Governor Vilsack and perpetrated by our State government
this week.
Inside the Iowa Legislature
Due to
many brilliant efforts in the agricultural committee last week,
discussions are now taking place in caucus whether to obey orders from
the national and international hierarchy or to make considered
decisions for the welfare of the State of Iowa. In the taking
away of local control, the Iowa State Legislature is, in turn, losing
their sovereignty as well. By falling in lockstep with the governor and
senators like Chuck Grassley who, in turn, are being pre-compliant with
the World Trade Organization, Iowa legislators see themselves as
significant players; important and connected.
But some
courageous legislators are trying to protect Iowa’s agricultural
portfolio. They are trying to preserve diversity in an irresponsible
system that has allowed Iowa to invest 90% of its soybean fields in
biotechnology, a technology that has already proven itself to be
dangerous.
The bill is being fast tracked through the Iowa house. The only place we can stop it is in the senate.
The key
leadership in the senate is Senator Kibbie, Senator Reilly and Senator
Fraise. Only an expression of outrage from their constituency
would provide a legitimate excuse for tabling this bill against blanket
orders to pass it.
We have
the opportunity, Tuesday, to take a stand, witnessed by all, to stand
up for Mother Nature. Every farmer and consumer within earshot of this
message is asked to show up on Tuesday, March 15th. Be on the steps of the State Capitol in Des Moines, a hundred strong; men, women and children at 10:00 AM. Your presence and prayers will make all the difference!
Contact your state senator here.
Sunday, March 13
Kerry Pledges to Fight Bush on Alaska Oil
by
Trish Nelson
on Sun 13 Mar 2005 07:37 AM CST
Kerry Pledges to Fight Bush on Alaska Oil
San Francisco Chronicle
by Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief
Washington - Sen. John Kerry pledged Thursday to lead the fight
against [the Bush administration's] proposal to drill for oil in the Alaska
wilderness, sounding a call to arms for environmentalists to combat the
administration's energy policies. Kerry said in an interview with The Chronicle, "The American
people did not vote to drill in ANWR.''
Kerry characterized [Bush's] plan for the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge as a "phony, absolutely fraudulent offering,'' which
vastly overstates the potential to reduce gas prices or the nation's
reliance on foreign oil. He called it the "ideological linchpin'' to a
broader, more reckless environmental policy. "They need to be called out on it, and I intend to do it,'' Kerry said.
The defiant words from the "losing" Democratic presidential candidate
came
as Republicans in the Senate fashioned a drilling measure which they
hope will be immune to a filibuster. The same measure failed in the
Senate in 2003 after passing in the House. This year, after winning
four new seats in the Senate and [stealing] four more years [of
occupation] for Bush, Republicans are feeling optimistic about the
chances of
legislation to open up about 1.5 million acres of the Alaska wilderness
to drilling.
(click here to read the entire article)
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