Anti-Science From Both Left and Right
The political left in this country likes to claim the moral high ground of being scientific, and claims that it is the Christian right that opposes science. While certainly the right can be justly criticized for opposing the teaching of evolution and certain types of stem cell research, the left has more than its fair share of Luddites: (via Overlawyered)
In
the first injunction of this kind, U.S. District Court Judge Charles
Breyer of the Northern District of California declared that no Roundup
ready alfalfa seed can be planted after March 30, 2007....Crop
safety is not the issue. The court has already accepted that Roundup
Ready alfalfa poses no harm to humans and livestock, according to
Monsanto representative Andrew Burchett. And, other regulatory agencies
around the world, including Canada and Japan, have confirmed its
environmental safety....The
suit filed last year by the Center for Food Safety, Trask Family Seeds,
and Geertson Seed Farms and others charged that USDA failed to follow
procedural requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act in
granting non-regulated status to Roundup Ready alfalfa under the Plant
Protection Act, and would have to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement.
Every time someone on the left preaches about how important it is to overcome the Republican's barriers to stem cell research, I want to gag. Sure, I'd like to see more such research happening, but this is a field of endeavor that is very young and any potential benefits are uncertain and far in the future. GM crops could be saving lives among the poor today, but the left consistently resists their spread, doing far more damage, at least in the near term, than the right has with stem cell research bans.
Karen of Scottsdale:
There are no bans on stem cell research. Us "Christian right extremists" are asking that our tax dollars not be used, but for some reason the media and the left (one and the same) keep perpetrating the lie about a so-called ban on stem cell research.
April 11, 2007, 10:32 amtsiroth:
Not to mention that, for the most part, those on the right who oppose embryonic stem cell research do so because they honestly believe that babies are being killed. Whereas those on the left who oppose GM crops do so for the most part because they honestly believe...genetic modification is icky?
Karen: While you are right that it is not accurate to call it a true ban, it is apparently not so straightforward as it might seem.
For instance, the biology department at a university may have a very nice research lab facility paid for in part by the proceeds of federal research grant money. I am told that this entire lab facility can now not be used for any purpose for which federal tax money cannot be used.
In other words, not just that federal tax dollars cannot be spent directly on such research, but that facilities and equipment bought in the past, even if only partly with federal tax dollars, can then never be used for embryonic stem cell research.
April 11, 2007, 11:51 amleftelitist:
Did you actually read the case? The concern was with the effects on the environment, animals, and genetic pollution. All the plaintiffs wanted was for the government to look at the possible effects and try to put in safeguards to prevent contamination.
May 18, 2007, 12:19 pm