Each ton of carbon dioxide is the same and can be treated interchangeably.
Carbon dioxide removal tomorrow cannot compensate for emissions today. Emissions from luxury consumption should not be considered equal to emissions from essential food production. Storage of carbon in plants and soils cannot…
Products and travel can be “climate neutral” or even “climate positive”.
Products and travel that are sold as “climate neutral” or “climate positive” due to offsetting, do still have a carbon footprint. Such marketing is misleading and may even lead to more emissions…
“There’s no consensus among scientists that climate change is real.”
Wrong. There is nearly 100 percent agreement among scientists. Moreover, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that global warming is accelerating, and will reach 1.C above pre-Industrial levels around…
“Plants and animals can adapt.”
Wrong again. Because human-caused climate change is happening so rapidly, species simply don’t have time to adapt. Frogs tell the story best: With their semi-permeable skin, unprotected eggs, and reliance on external…
The technology behind the creation of gmos makes it unsafe.
THE TECHNOLOGY THAT CREATES GMOS IS A TOOL OF SCIENCE. IN THE 1980S, THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES DECLARED THAT THE PROCESS OF GENETIC ENGINEERING IS NOT INHERENTLY HAZARDOUS. “Harms are always…
It’s no big deal that crop genes get into wild populations.
CROP GENES IN THE WILD CAN CAUSE TROUBLE — NOT ALL THE TIME — BUT ON OCCASION. Ellstrand maintains there’s no fundamental difference between genes transferred from genetic engineering and genes that…
We need to regulate gmos for food safety.
FOOD SAFETY WITH APPROVED GMOS IS NOT AN ISSUE. “We have a huge issue in food safety with lots of other things: contaminants, E. coli, salmonella, listeria, arsenic. But if genetic engineers…
All gmo crops have been wonderful successes.
ELLSTRAND CITES THE FLAVR SAVR TOMATO AND THE LOW-NICOTINE TOBACCO AS EXAMPLES. Both these products were developed commercially but were marketing failures due to a variety of reasons. They — and many…
Gmos will ruin our existing food systems
MCHUGHEN BELIEVES THE PRODUCTION OF GMOS IS BEST WAY TO PROVIDE FOOD SECURITY FOR THE PLANET, PARTICULARLY IN POORER COUNTRIES. “If Europe and the United States banned GMOs outright, it probably would…
All gmo crops create some kind of problem.
ELLSTRAND GIVES THE EXAMPLE OF THE GENETICALLY MODIFIED, VIRUS-RESISTANT HAWAIIAN PAPAYA: “It not only saved the Hawaiian papaya industry but also saved the non-GMO Hawaiian organic industry by reducing the incidence of…
