24/September/20

 

Expressions of outrage and incredulity have greeted the announcement that Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, has been chosen to lead a Task Force that will examine the possibility that Covid-19 could have emerged from a lab, as part of an investigation into the origins of the virus. Daszak has promised to undertake the investigation “with an open mind”. But this is hard to imagine, given his previous dismissals of suggestions that SARS-CoV-2 could have leaked from a lab as “preposterous”, “baseless”, “crackpot”, “conspiracy theories” and “pure baloney”. GMWatch

 

 

The ongoing US-UK trade talks have been seen by some lobby groups as an opportunity to strip back environmental and food safety regulations to allow them to sell products – pesticides, hormone-fed meat, [GMW: unlabelled] GMOs and chemicals – that have been previously banned or restricted under EU law. The groups represent industries worth billions of dollars, and are supported by some of the world’s largest polluters. They are also backed by think tanks and campaign groups with histories of obstructing climate action and ties to funders of climate science denial, and are affiliated with UK organisations closely connected to the UK's Department of International Trade. Desmog

 

 

The National Farmers Union in New Brunswick, Canada supports having a discussion on the complex issue of spraying of glyphosate. Board member Pierre-Olivier Brassard says there are ways around the use of the pesticide in agriculture but that the sector needs support during that transition. The union believes that for the future of food production in New Brunswick, what's needed is investment in agroecology. Huddle

 

 

The Cornell Alliance for Science, a public relations campaign that promotes GMOs and pesticides, has announced that it is "expanding its mission of science communication and advocacy and broadening its commitment to diversity and inclusion thanks to $10 million in new funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". Alliance for Science; comment by GMWatch