• SCOTUS: Monstanto can sell GM seeds before testing is done. Fuck you, Clarence Thomas.
    5 replies, posted
[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10371831.stm[/url] [release]The bio-tech company Monsanto can sell genetically modified seeds before safety tests on them are completed, the US Supreme Court has ruled. A lower court had barred the sale of the modified alfalfa seeds until an environmental impact study could be carried out. But seven of the nine Supreme Court Justices decided that ruling was unconstitutional. The seed is modified to be resistant to Monsanto's brand of weedkiller. The US is the world's largest producer of alfalfa, a grass-like plant used as animal feed. It is the fourth most valuable crop grown in the country. Environmentalists had argued that there might be a risk of cross-pollination between genetically modified plants and neighbouring crops. They also argued over-use of the company's weedkiller Roundup, the chemical treatment the alfalfa is modified to be resistant to, could cause pollution of ground water and lead to resistant "super-weeds". But Monsanto says claims its products were dangerous amounted to "bad science fiction with no support on the record".[/release] Clarence Thomas used to be an attorney for Monstanto. No conflict of interest there. :rolleyes:
The US Supreme Court has been making nothing but shit rulings lately.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;22788998] Clarence Thomas used to be an attorney for Monstanto. No conflict of interest there. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE] Goddamn it, you beat me to it. But yeah, this really does help confirm that a company that has over 90% control of the biotech market dips it's fingers in other people's jelly. inb4 Zombie apocalypse.
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;22789335]Goddamn it, you beat me to it. But yeah, this really does help confirm that a company that has over 90% control of the biotech market dips it's fingers in other people's jelly. inb4 Zombie apocalypse.[/QUOTE] Monstanto does not have 90% control of the biotech market. Not by market cap, revenue, profit, or employed people. Also, what kind of safety test? Did the FDA already approve them? If so, then there's nothing else that they should have to do and I completely agree with this ruling. Otherwise, even though I'm in the biotech field, I think they shouldn't be allowed to sell them before approval.
[QUOTE=Kagrenak;22789955]Monstanto does not have 90% control of the biotech market. Not by market cap, revenue, profit, or employed people.[/QUOTE] Their patented genes are in 70% of the seeds on the market today.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;22789966]Their patented genes are in 70% of the seeds on the market today.[/QUOTE] 70% isn't the same as 90%, and agriculture isn't even anywhere near 90% of the biotech market. Genzyme has only a couple billion less in revenue, and they're the third largest biotech. They have a 90% share of GE seed, not of biotech. [editline]12:00AM[/editline] Also, it was a 7:1 ruling, so it doesn't really matter if Thomas ruled against it or not. [url]http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/09-475.pdf[/url] [url]http://www.biofortified.org/2010/06/supreme-court-decides-on-alfalfa-case/[/url] [editline]12:02AM[/editline] Also, they didn't lift a ban on planting it before hand, they lifted an injection that prevented the USDA (who is the correct regulatory body in this matter) from partial-deregulation, which is their discretion. [quote=Biofortified] So what does this mean about GE alfalfa plantings, can farmers just start buying and planting the herbicide-tolerant legume? No, what was lifted by the court was the injunction that prevented the USDA from allowing some farmers to plant GE alfalfa under partial deregulation. The court did not touch on the issue of whether it was right to re-regulate the alfalfa, or on the issue of whether an evidentiary hearing was required. What they did do was determine that the broad injunction was not justified by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and is saying that it is up to the USDA to assess whether it can partially deregulate the alfalfa should it choose to do so. Until that happens, no new alfalfa plantings can happen.[/quote]
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