Thursday, October 31, 2013

October 31, 2013: Arctic Oil Meets Greenpeace Activists Who Land in Jail: Colleagues on West Coast Raise Concerns

Imprisoned Greenpeace activists in Russia – jailed for putting a banner on an oil platform in the Arctic Ocean - were on the minds of colleagues sailing down the West Coast of the US on Greenpeace’s newest ship, the Rainbow Warrior III. The "Arctic 30" have been charged with piracy, a first in Greenpeace history, and could face 15 years in jail.

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Monday, October 7, 2013

October 7, 2013: Should GMO Foods Be Labeled? Industry & Public Showdown as State Prepares to Answer the Big Question

GMO foods are again on the hot seat on the West coast. Last year California’s Prop 37 to label genetically modified organisms at the grocery store was narrowly defeated, 51 to 49%. This year in Washington the issue is giving rise to conflicting claims and a record 21.9 million flooding the state, with over 17 million coming from opponents lead by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Monsanto and Dow and the remainder from proponents lead by Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, the Organic Consumers Fund and Mercola Health Resources. Martha Baskin takes a look.

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Full Transcript: Given the high stakes - over 90% of all corn, canola and cotton is genetically modified with high percentages in six other crops and experiments underway in others - it’s no surprise that conflicting claims about I-522, the ballot initiative requiring labels on genetically modified foods at the grocery store, are flying fast and furious. Proponents call it a consumer ‘right to know’. “We already label farm raised fish. If salmon is genetically engineered the label should say so,” says a fisherman in a Yes on 522 ad. In a NoOn522 TV ad, opponent Dan Newhouse, former director of the state Department of Agriculture, opens with this, “the food labeling regulations in I-522 conflict with national standards and make no sense.”