Monsanto has announced it will scrap plans to sell an insect-resistant maize in France, the second move in a week by biotech company to retreat from the genetically modified foods market in Europe. Monsanto's announcement on Tuesday (24 January) came a week after Germany's BASF said it would suspend the development of GM crops in Europe and move its plant science arm to the United States. BASF's move is a particular blow for Europe, said Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, director of agricultural biotechnology at EuropaBio. "The BASF decision is not good for Europe because I think it is the reaction of a quintessentially European company to what is a stifling political and regulatory environment," said du Marchie Sarvaas, whose Brussels organisation represents agricultural technology companies. "Research, jobs, money will go to where it is welcomed. In this case it will be somewhere else. It's a bad day for Europe." Monsanto said it would not resume sales of MON810, a maize genetically modified to improve pest resistance, despite a French court ruling in November that overturned a 2008 government ban on the sale of MON810. "Monsanto considers that favourable conditions for the sale of the MON810 in France in 2012 and beyond are not in place," the St. Louis, Missouri-based company said in a statement.
Monsanto has announced it will scrap plans to sell an insect-resistant maize in France, the second move in a week by biotech company to retreat from the genetically modified foods market in Europe.
Monsanto's announcement on Tuesday (24 January) came a week after Germany's BASF said it would suspend the development of GM crops in Europe and move its plant science arm to the United States.
BASF's move is a particular blow for Europe, said Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, director of agricultural biotechnology at EuropaBio.
"The BASF decision is not good for Europe because I think it is the reaction of a quintessentially European company to what is a stifling political and regulatory environment," said du Marchie Sarvaas, whose Brussels organisation represents agricultural technology companies.
"Research, jobs, money will go to where it is welcomed. In this case it will be somewhere else. It's a bad day for Europe."
Monsanto said it would not resume sales of MON810, a maize genetically modified to improve pest resistance, despite a French court ruling in November that overturned a 2008 government ban on the sale of MON810.
"Monsanto considers that favourable conditions for the sale of the MON810 in France in 2012 and beyond are not in place," the St. Louis, Missouri-based company said in a statement.
While the topic of climate change in this country often feels like the truth that dare not speak its name, there is no escaping what Grist's own David Roberts refers to as its "brutal logic." The planet will warm no matter how international climate negotiations -- the latest round having just occurred in Durban, South Africa -- play out. It's because of that inevitable warming that Britain's chief scientist, John Beddington, along with an international group of scientists, have taken to the pages of Science magazine this month to ask climate negotiators to stop ignoring agriculture. Agriculture has been hovering just on the margins of climate change policy. Of course, that's no coincidence. Precise measurement of the climate impact of many industrial farming practices remains difficult and controversial, and the U.S. in particular has resisted any attempts to formalize the agricultural sector's obligation to climate mitigation. The reasons for this are twofold: Big and Ag. After all, it was American agribusiness that exacted virtual exemption from the Obama administration's failed attempt at a climate bill as a price for its potential support. The EPA continues to develop its carbon emissions tracking plan, but the agricultural sector has managed to keep itself out of that, too.
While the topic of climate change in this country often feels like the truth that dare not speak its name, there is no escaping what Grist's own David Roberts refers to as its "brutal logic." The planet will warm no matter how international climate negotiations -- the latest round having just occurred in Durban, South Africa -- play out.
It's because of that inevitable warming that Britain's chief scientist, John Beddington, along with an international group of scientists, have taken to the pages of Science magazine this month to ask climate negotiators to stop ignoring agriculture.
Agriculture has been hovering just on the margins of climate change policy. Of course, that's no coincidence. Precise measurement of the climate impact of many industrial farming practices remains difficult and controversial, and the U.S. in particular has resisted any attempts to formalize the agricultural sector's obligation to climate mitigation.
The reasons for this are twofold: Big and Ag. After all, it was American agribusiness that exacted virtual exemption from the Obama administration's failed attempt at a climate bill as a price for its potential support. The EPA continues to develop its carbon emissions tracking plan, but the agricultural sector has managed to keep itself out of that, too.
WASHINGTON, DC, January 24, 2012 (ENS) - Increased oil, natural gas and renewable energy production within the United States and energy efficiency will lower U.S. reliance on coal and imported energy sources through 2035, finds the latest forecast by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, EIA, the statistical and analytical agency within the Department of Energy. Energy-related emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide are projected to remain below their 2005 level through 2035. The EIA Monday released its Annual Energy Outlook 2012 Reference case, which reflects only the effects of energy policies that have been implemented in law or final regulations. EIA Acting Administrator Howard Gruenspecht said, "Our updated Reference case projections show natural gas and renewables gaining an increasing share of U.S. electric power generation, domestic crude oil and natural gas production growing, reliance on imported oil decreasing, U.S. natural gas production exceeding consumption, and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions remaining below their 2005 level through 2035."
Energy-related emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide are projected to remain below their 2005 level through 2035.
The EIA Monday released its Annual Energy Outlook 2012 Reference case, which reflects only the effects of energy policies that have been implemented in law or final regulations.
EIA Acting Administrator Howard Gruenspecht said, "Our updated Reference case projections show natural gas and renewables gaining an increasing share of U.S. electric power generation, domestic crude oil and natural gas production growing, reliance on imported oil decreasing, U.S. natural gas production exceeding consumption, and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions remaining below their 2005 level through 2035."
The successful bank robber no longer covers his face and leaps over the counter with a sawn-off shotgun. He arrives in a chauffeur-driven car, glides into the lift then saunters into an office at the top of the building. No one stops him. No one, even when the scale of the heist is revealed, issues a warrant for his arrest. The modern robber obtains prior approval from the institution he is fleecing. ... As the writer Dan Pink has shown, high pay actually reduces performance(7). Material rewards incentivise simple mechanistic jobs, such as working on an assembly line. But they lead to the poorer execution of tasks which require problem solving and cognitive skills. As studies for the US Federal Reserve and other such bolsheviks show(8), cash incentives narrow people's focus and restrict the range of their thinking. By contrast, intrinsic motivators -- such as a sense of autonomy, of enhancing your skills and pursuing a higher purpose -- tend to improve performance. ... Let's say £500,000 a year, a figure that includes bonuses, share options, pensions and benefits. It will rise with inflation, but no faster than that. If you want to make more, you can invest in a risky venture of your own or someone else's. If you want to make more money as a salaried worker - in other words while other people carry the risks - you can go abroad, and good riddance to you. Another country, incautious enough to set no cap, can deal with the consequences of your destructive greed.
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As the writer Dan Pink has shown, high pay actually reduces performance(7). Material rewards incentivise simple mechanistic jobs, such as working on an assembly line. But they lead to the poorer execution of tasks which require problem solving and cognitive skills. As studies for the US Federal Reserve and other such bolsheviks show(8), cash incentives narrow people's focus and restrict the range of their thinking. By contrast, intrinsic motivators -- such as a sense of autonomy, of enhancing your skills and pursuing a higher purpose -- tend to improve performance.
Let's say £500,000 a year, a figure that includes bonuses, share options, pensions and benefits. It will rise with inflation, but no faster than that. If you want to make more, you can invest in a risky venture of your own or someone else's. If you want to make more money as a salaried worker - in other words while other people carry the risks - you can go abroad, and good riddance to you. Another country, incautious enough to set no cap, can deal with the consequences of your destructive greed.
