Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Dan DeWalt, who writes for ThisCan’tBeHappening.net.
Monsanto has launched an attack on jurisprudence in America. Devious and secretive actions in the U.S. Senate resulted in the addition of a special rider to the just-passed continuing resolution (CR) that funds the federal government through September. This rider gives Monsanto’s GMO seed production immunity from any enforcement of environmental laws or from litigation challenging the unfettered use of GMO crops. Monsanto knows that public skepticism about the safety, efficacy and ultimate value of GMOs is growing. Europe and Japan have rejected GMOs, and now citizens in California and elsewhere are trying to pass GMO labeling laws by statewide referendum votes.
New generations of weeds and insects are already developing resistance to Roundup Ready Soybeans and Bt corn. (Indeed, for the next round of plant mutation engineering, the big M wants to bring Agent Orange onto the farm to do what Roundup no longer can.) Consumers are wondering whether the onslaught of new allergies, food intolerances and digestive tract diseases could be linked to the introduction of GMO crops.
Monsanto must share Entergy’s playbook: overwhelm citizen and state opposition to corporate power grabs with mountains of money and litigation that small states and citizen groups cannot match. By thwarting labeling laws and gaining immunity from accountability, Monsanto is purchasing a guarantee of profits that makes a mockery out of the free enterprise system.
With Congress members and senators desperate for campaign cash, Monsanto has bought many of them to do their bidding. Last year, their political flunkies dutifully added a rider onto the 2012 Farm Bill that gave the corporation many of these same protections, to the point of issuing explicit orders to the Secretary of Agriculture regarding how GMO crop use must be protected from scrutiny or opposition. The perceived importance of the Farm Bill’s passage was enough to make many a politician turn a blind eye to the Monsanto rider. Even Vermont Congress member Peter Welch was unwilling to answer questions directly related to the inclusion of this sacrifice of farmers’ rights for the sake of Monsanto profits. But the Republicans killed the Farm Bill for other reasons, so Monsanto had to go shopping for another bill to sabotage; they found one in the CR. Republican Roy Blunt was the most likely senator to have inserted (secretly) the rider. Democrat committee Chair Barbara Mikulski allowed it to stay, and President Obama signed it into law. Now a hue and cry has developed. Blunt isn’t talking to the press. Mikulski and Obama say that they were against it but neither one managed to express their opposition while the bill was still in process. It’s just one more example of a craven and venal political class that answers only to the corporations and big money interests.
Here in Vermont, however, we are much more than mere bystanders to this debacle. Because at the Statehouse today, a GMO labeling bill is working its way through the Legislature and stands a good chance of being passed. This bill is being crafted to protect our rights to know what’s in our food and to withstand the inevitable legal challenge that Monsanto has already promised to mount against it. Although Gov. Shumlin is in favor of labeling our food, he has shown a distinct reluctance to see this bill cross his desk for signature. He would like to see some other state fight this battle, claiming that other federal circuit courts would rule more favorably than the one which preside over an appeal of the Vermont law.
Monsanto must share Entergy’s playbook: overwhelm citizen and state opposition to corporate power grabs with mountains of money and litigation that small states and citizen groups cannot match. By thwarting labeling laws and gaining immunity from accountability, Monsanto is purchasing a guarantee of profits that makes a mockery out of the free enterprise system. While Shumlin may say he’s just being practical, rolling over for the corporate pillaging of our resources and our sovereignty is anything but. Corporate power has effectively destroyed national representative government. If states start to go the way of our feckless national politicians then we will have no protection left from the rapacious moneyed interests. If Vermont takes a stand for freedom against Monsanto, just like our stance against the bullying and destructive behavior of Entergy, we will be fighting a battle for citizens across the entire nation. And when Vermont prevails, Monsanto, just like Entergy, will lose much more than just a foothold in our tiny state’s coffers. History and mythology tell us time and time again how the most unlikely champions have often struck a blow against the powerful bad guy which then led to the unravelling of an entire dark chapter of recent history. Just this month, citizens in Searsport, Maine, prevailed against a Conoco/Phillips consortium that was hell bent on building a 40-story liquified gas storage facility in their small community. The corporate warriors had influenced the local politicians with tall tales and “gifts,” the governor was backing the corporate power, but the citizens never gave up and Conoco/Phillips has now abandoned their detrimental scheme.
Vermont must not back down in the face of corporate bullying. Gov. Shumlin needs to be told in no uncertain terms that we want him to sign this bill, and that we want the attorney general to vigorously defend the law if challenged. In Vermont, our voices still count with our representatives. Contacting the governor is an easy way to make your voice count in an epic battle that will affect the entire nation. If you care about our rights to govern ourselves, contact Mr. Shumlin and urge him not to shy away from the necessary work of protecting Vermont from corporate abuse.
