Tuesday, 02 Oct 2001

Ear, There, and Everywhere

To their surprise, Mexican authorities have discovered that some of the country's native corn varieties have been contaminated by genetically engineered DNA. The finding is particularly troubling because Mexico has not approved the commercial planting of genetically modified corn. Moreover, the contaminated seeds were found in an area considered to be the world's repository of corn diversity -- the kind of place scientists had hoped would help preserve genetic diversity in the age of Frankenfood. Greenpeace is now asking Mexico to ban the import of genetically modified corn.

No-fry Zone

An unidentified plane flew close to the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station on Sep. 13, but fighter jets sent to track the plane down never found it, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) said yesterday. Dean and other lawmakers across the country are calling on the Bush administration to create no-fly zones around all 103 nuclear plants in the U.S., fearing that the plants are easy targets for terrorist attacks. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, however, says the likelihood is remote that terrorists could take out a plant successfully.

How Unattracktive

Environmental groups in the U.S. are asking Republican leaders not to take up a controversial trade bill, saying that it could jeopardize the "spirit of bipartisan unity" in Congress. The bill would grant the president the authority to negotiate trade agreements and prevent Congress from amending them; lawmakers could merely vote yea or nay on the pacts. Enviros fear that environmental concerns would receive short shrift in such a framework. But the Bush administration wants the fast-track trade legislation approved so that it can advance the North American Free Trade Agreement and move forward with its agenda at the World Trade Organization meeting next month in Qatar.

Cyanide, Sealed, and Delivered

Residents of Montana won't have to vote again on a 1998 ban on the use of cyanide in open-pit gold mines. The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday chose not to consider an appeals court ruling that upheld the voter-approved ban. A corporate spending cap on initiative campaigns in Montana prevented mining companies from throwing their full weight into the anti-ban effort, but right before voters okayed the ban, the spending limits were found to be unconstitutional. The companies then sued for a revote, claiming they hadn't had enough time to "counteract the effects of their prolonged, state-coerced silence." The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the industry's arguments, and the Supreme Court let that ruling stand.