GM Crops are Sown in Wildlife Refuges Across U.S.

The Hidden Email the White House Hopes to Keep Under Wraps
The White House has refused to release an email sent to this top Obama official. Why? Because it may reveal they are colluding with lobbyists to poison our wildlife refuges, with an untested seed...

Did You Know? GM Crops are Sown in Wildlife Refuges Across U.S.

In related news, the White House has refused to release certain portions of a January 11 email sent from a Monsanto-linked lobbyist to top Obama administration policy analyst Peter Schmeissnerⁱ.

The email was requested by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Based on other emails they have already obtained, PEER believes the email in question could reveal that the White House is colluding with lobbyists to defend the planting of genetically modified crops in wildlife refuges.

According to Truthout:

"Last July, PEER released a number of internal emails  revealing that Peter Schmeissner, a senior science policy analyst and member of the White House's biotechnology working group, had corresponded with the BIO lobbyist about a legal challenge filed by PEER and its allies. The PEER lawsuit had successfully halted GE crop plantings in wildlife refuges in northeastern states, and the group continues to challenge planned plantings in other regions across the country.

In the emails obtained by PEER, longtime biotech lobbyist Adrianne Massey asks Schmeissner if the 'interagency working group' is addressing the PEER's legal challenges. Massey also forwarded environmental assessments of proposed GE crop plots at wildlife refuges in other regions of the country. These assessments could protect future GE crop plots in refuges from legal challenges."

Legal documents state that the White House is withholding part of the email because it accidentally also included information about the Biotechnology  Industry Organization's (BIO's) lobbying strategy, which, if released, "would cause competitive harm to the group and the companies it represents," Truthout reports. In response, PEER staff counsel Kathryn Douglass has stated,

"We suspect the reason an industry lobbyist so cavalierly shared strategy is that the White House is part of that strategy."

Crazy as it sounds, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has permitted GM seeds to be sown in wildlife reserves for several years now, as part of various habitat restoration efforts. The idea is that planting herbicide-resistant GM crops helps establish ground cover while allowing them to kill off unwanted weeds. PEER challenged this practice after being contacted by concerned Fish and Wildlife biologists, and claims it is being used as a ploy to boost exports of GM crops. According to Truthout:

"PEER contends that the White House working group's involvement indicates high-level interest in showing trade partners that the US government considers GE crops to be so environmentally safe that Americans plant them in wildlife reserves."

PEER also claims to have evidence in the form of an email showing that US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has pressured the Fish and Wildlife Service to support GE agriculture.

"In the January 14 email, Interior Department Deputy Secretary David Hayes told top Interior Department and Fish and Wildlife officials that Vilsack is "somewhat exercised that the Administration is not being consistent in supporting genetically engineered crops," Truthout reports.

h/t to MJ

Related:

Genetically Modified Food to Make Mankind “Retarded” (Controllable) Already in the 21st Century