孟山都笑了
奥巴马签署《孟山都保护法》 该法案系孟山都撰写
据报道，尽管有25万人联署反对，奥巴马上周二还是签署了这一埋藏在78页法律中的《孟山都保护法》。该法案有利于孟山都等转基因公司向民众兜售转基因作物，即使出现对人身体有害或者造成环境污染的情况下，也能避免联邦法院的制裁。许多食品安全的倡导者认为现在还没有对转基因种子和作物的潜在危害做足够的研究，若潜在危害显露时，法律是阻止转基因公司兜售和种植转基因作物的关键手段。然而《孟山都保护法案》的签署使得民众无法再用法律手段来维护自己的权利。
据IB Times 揭露，这个法案由孟山都支持的共和党议员Roy Blunt提出，由Blunt与孟山都共同撰写.
另据华盛顿时报指出，这个法案的通过被许多像先正达公司、美国嘉吉公司和孟山都视为胜利，这些公司自2009年以来就向国会捐助750万美元，以及向参议院拨款委员会捐助37.2万美元。（据今日俄罗斯，IB Times 等）
Anger is growing against President Barack Obama the day after he signed into law a spending bill that included a provision opponents have dubbed the "Monsanto Protection Act."
food and public safety advocates and independent farmers are furious that Obama signed it despite its inclusion of language that they consider to be a gift to Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) and other firms that produce genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or genetically engineered (GE) seeds and crops.
And protesters have spent the past couple of days demonstrating in front of the White House, first calling on Obama to veto the bill, and now criticizing him for his failure to do so.
The protests come on the heels of a massive petition campaign organized by the advocacy group Food Democracy Now, which gathered the signatures of more than 200,000 people who wanted Obama to veto HR 933 in order to stop Section 735 -- the so-called "Monsanto Protection Act" -- from being codified into law.
But Obama ignored it, instead choosing to sign a bill that effectively bars federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of GMO or GE crops and seeds, no matter what health consequences from the consumption of these products may come to light in the future.
"This provision is simply an industry ploy to continue to sell genetically engineered seeds even when a court of law has found they were approved by USDA illegally," the petition stated. "It is unnecessary and an unprecedented attack on U.S. judicial review. Congress should not be meddling with the judicial review process based solely on the special interest of a handful of companies."
Many food safety advocates maintain that there have not been enough studies into the potential health risks of GMO and GE seeds and crops, and the judicial power to stop companies from selling or planting them was one key recourse they were relying on to stop them from being sold if health risks come to light.
But the "Monsanto Protection Act" -- referred to as the "Farmer Assurance Provision" by its supporters -- removes that course of action, and those who are angry at Obama for signing the bill are also incensed with Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D- Md., who is accused of failing to give the amendment that inserted the language a proper hearing.
附文：
Monsanto Wrote Monsanto Protection Act
'Monsanto Protection Act' slips silently through US Congress
So, just how much of a victory is this for biotech companies like Monsanto? Critics are thus far alarmed by the very way in which the provision made it through Congress -- the rider was introduced anonymously as the larger bill progressed through the Senate Appropriations Committee. Now, groups like the Center for Food Safety are holding Senator Mikulski (D-MD), chairman of that committee, to task and lobbing accusations of a “backroom deal” with the biotech industry.
As the Washington Times points out, the provision’s success is viewed by many as a victory by companies like Syngenta Corp, Cargill, Monsanto and affiliated PACs that have donated $7.5 million to members of Congress since 2009, and $372,000 to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
。
