Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the most recent previous Green Spotlight. More than 25,360 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: timeline of wolves reintroducing themselves to California in photos: “Trail cameras have photographed the California gray wolves since the first one wandered here from Oregon in late 2011. Here are new photos of the Shasta Pack members and the newest lone wolf plus other new and repeat photos of the ten wolves present in California now. As the elk herds come back in California, habitats are made ready for wolves to return nearly a century after they were extirpated from the state. There is no intentional wolf restoration in the state but California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is living up to their name change from Game toWildlife, signaling a viewpoint shift and title change for Game Wardens who became Wildlife Officers. Wolves haven’t been a significant (or even minor) threat to humans in the US, but this doesn’t mean they are tourist attractions and photo ops. Wolves who become habituated to humans are more likely to approach human residences and this could mean predation on a rancher’s livestock. If you want wolves in California leave them alone so they remain wary of humans.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - redbreasted sapsucker: “Just back from a trip to the mainland. Tromping through the woods, I (actually Mr O first) caught sight of a shy bird I’ve seen signs of plenty, but not the bird itself. The Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) is closely related to the Red-naped and Yellow-bellied sapsuckers, and interbreeds with them where they overlap. But the Red-breasted lives in the lowlands of the maritime west, in coniferous woods, so overlapping is almost always when the other sapsuckers range into our west side woods.The other woodpeckers have a much bigger presence in western Washington. I see Hairys, Downys and Flickers frequently, Pileateds less often but regularly. But the sapsucker was elusive until yesterday. Its fire-engine red head stands out in the foliage. After seeing that flash of red, I tried to find an angle to better see it.”
enhydra lutris writes—The Daily Bucket - June Yard Report: “This is part of my ongoing project to document the changes in our yard from month to month.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Cape Fear Botanical Garden.
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: Some North Carolina Critters.
CLIMATE CHAOS
icallbs writes—Sea Level Rise: The East Coast and the Gulf Coast: “Sea level rise due to Global Warming is happening much more rapidly on the East Coast than in the Gulf. The reason is the slowing down of the Gulf Stream, which is actually a ribbon of water that sits on top of the Atlantic Ocean due to its higher temperature. It remains a relatively tall, but narrow ribbon off the coast because of a conveyer belt type system that keeps the Gulf Stream moving. The water brought in by the Gulf Stream eventually sinks in the North Atlantic as it evaporates and cools becoming cold, dense salty water and then moves south as a deep ocean current (www.whoi.edu/...). Due to increased melt from Greenland glaciers and the Arctic ice sheet, a large amount of fresh water is being introduced into the system. [...] The Gulf is not seeing this same type of sea level rise. The sea level rise that is occurring in the Gulf is due to natural land subsidence that normally would be mitigated through the natural deposits of silt from river deltas large and small.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—It’s A Small World: Leavers, Deniers and Trump: “On Friday, we made a joking reference to how right-wing politics and climate denial operate within a single, metaphorical room. In light of the Brexit vote, it seems appropriate to remind everyone how climate denial in the UK is similarly closely tied to other politics, by operating out of literally the same building. Last January, Kyla Mandel at DeSmog UK made the initial connection, showing how many climate deniers are campaigning for England to leave the EU, including many names common to this column, like Matt Ridley and James Delingpole. Then the building where these two policy circles intersect was mentioned last February, when the Independent revealed that the Global Warming Policy Foundation/Forum is one of many groups that call a single townhouse at 55 Tufton Street home. More recently, Mandel used the very neat LittleSis mapping tool to visualize the close relationship between the various anti-climate and pro-Leave organizations and their leadership. She even included a floor plan for the building, which reinforces just how cramped those quarters are. The overlap of climate denial and EU rejection is likely in part organic.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Not-So-Strange Days in #ExxonKnew Campaign: “Last week, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey told the Exxon-sponsored GOP members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology that they don’t have the authority to ‘interfere’ with her investigations into ExxonMobil’s potential climate cover-up. Meanwhile, Yale Law School Dean Robert Post penned a very strong op-ed for the Washington Post, calling out the company for ‘abusing the First Amendment.’ He points out how it’s ‘hard to exaggerate the brazen audacity’ of the free speech excuse, as it is an attempt to short-circuit the investigation process by denying the attorneys general the ability to gather the ‘information necessary to determine whether ExxonMobil has committed fraud.’ The invocation of the First Amendment in a case like this is ‘grossly irresponsible’ says Post’s Post post, but is unfortunately part of ‘an increasing tendency to use the First Amendment to unravel ordinary business regulations.’”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Boldly Going Where Everyone Has Gone Before: “As deniers become increasingly desperate for new ideas, it’s not often that we get to debunk new arguments. But sometimes old arguments are dressed up in new ways and published on new websites. Case in point: Carrie Sheffield’s post about Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, published on Bold.global. Obviously Gore-bashing is nothing new, but what’s this Bold.global website? It describes itself as ‘a multimedia, viral news & cultural platform for a diverse coalition centered on personal responsibility and sustainable capitalism. We empower individuals and communities to produce innovative content with positive social impact.’ If that buzzword-stuffed description didn’t make any sense, don’t worry, it doesn’t really mean anything. This website is just one more right-wing attempt to convince Millennials and minorities that being a conservative is like totes lit, fam. At least that’s the impression one gets from reading Bold’s painfully un-self-aware interview with its founder, rising conservative pundit Carrie Sheffield.”
LannyAlanSinkin writes—Climate chaos and choosing a President: “We know that ExxonMobil does not really care about its impact on civilization. The leadership [sic] of that corporation minimized those impacts four years ago. More recently, ExxonMobil defended its telling lies about the impact of burning fossil fuels by claiming a First Amendment right to express its opinion. So we are left with some difficult decisions to make. Which decision you choose may depend on how critical you believe the climate challenge to be. As someone who has watched with increasing concern for more than forty years, I do not believe that we are responding at anywhere near the level called for by the seriousness of the challenge. We are going to spend billions or trillions just responding to what we can no longer prevent. If you think that the movement of refugees is fueling tension now, just wait until full on ecological catastrophe hits places with even larger populations at risk, like Bangladesh.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Stephen Hawking says humankind is still the greatest threat to Earth: “What’s the biggest problem facing humanity today?Climate change.”
News Corpse writes—Chickenhawk Republican Climate Deniers Just Killed Critical Military Funding: “[T]he Pentagon implemented a strategy (Department of Defense Directive 4715.21) for dealing with the consequences of a warming world. It was a fairly innocuous plan that mainly called for assigning specific people the responsibility of insuring that necessary measures were being taken to address potential problems. But even that plan was too much for the anti-science GOP, as reported by Politico: ‘Last week, however, House Republicans voted to block it. By a 216-205 vote Thursday, the House passed an amendment prohibiting the department from spending money to put its new plan into effect. Not a single Democrat voted for the amendment, which was attached to the defense spending bill.’”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Westlands Water District Relieves Tom Birmingham of General Counsel Duties: “Looking for a job? The scandal-ridden Westlands Water District, considered the “Darth Vader” of California water politics by Tribes, fishermen and environmentalists, is hiring a new general counsel. The announcement came after the Westlands Board of Directors reported stripping Tom Birmingham, now serving as both the district’s general manager and general counsel, of his general counsel duties. ‘The Westlands Water District Board of Directors decided to separate the role of General Manager and General Counsel in order to improve the District's decision-making processes and provide an additional layer of review for the District,’ Don Peracchi, President of the Westlands Board of Directors said in a statement. ‘The Legal Affairs Committee of the Board will immediately begin a search to hire a new General Counsel.’”
Walter Einenkel writes—Water discovered in drought-stricken Arizona. Don't worry, Nestlé is going to bottle it—for real: “Nestlé is opening a new bottling plant in Phoenix, Arizona. Seriously, Phoenix. Arizona. Arizona is the state that, for the first time in five years, is reportedly not going to have any areas of ‘severe drought.’ Here’s University of Arizona Climatologist Mike Crimmins explaining how droughts work. ‘The drought monitor is really tuned up for shorter termed seasonal drought,’ Crimmins said. ‘It tries to represent longer term drought, but it really does represent that seasonal time scale much better. Arizona is still in the grips of a 15-year drought, but we’ve seen pretty good improvement across much of the state over the last few months.’ Crimmins explained that short-term drought had more to do with things like the condition of the soil for plant growth or dry vegetation. Long-term drought has more to do with ground water levels or the condition of large storage reservoirs.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Walter Einenkel writes—The House Science Committee members protecting ExxonMobil have received millions for their 'work': “It’s been over a year since bigger and bigger leaks began to appear concerning what executives at ExxonMobil knew—and when they knew it—about climate change and its causes. U.S. state attorneys general began inquiring into whether or not ExxonMobil practiced fraud upon the American people in order to continue to build profits for the last 40 years. The attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands subpoenaed ExxonMobil for 40 years of records to that end. ExxonMobil has been suing to block any release of documents since that time. Suddenly, 17 state attorneys general, along with eight environmental activist organizations around the United States, received some crazy letters warning them about impeding ExxonMobil’s First Amendment rights. Crazier yet is that those letters came from the Republicans on the House Science Committee. [...] Together, these members of Congress have received $3,411,173 in career contributions from the oil and gas, coal mining, and electric utilities industries, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Moreover, all 13 committee members have received money directly from Exxon, totally $126,020. Committee Chairman Lamar Smith and Vice Chairman Frank Lucas have each received over $760,000 from the fossil fuel industry and at least $15,000 from Exxon.”
Lefty Coaster writes—Bill McKibben on Clinton campaign's rejection of proposed platform planks on Climate Change: “Bill McKibben describes the Clinton Campaign’s preference for platitudes over programs. ‘As one of Bernie’s delegates, I’m disappointed so far. But we’re still fighting hard. By Bill McKibben. The Clinton campaign was ready to acknowledge serious problems: We need fair trade policy, inequality is a horrible problem, and unchecked climate change will wreck the planet. But when it came to specific policy changes, they often balked. [...] We all agreed that America should be operating on 100 percent clean energy by 2050, but then I proposed, in one amendment after another, a series of ways we might actually get there. A carbon tax? Voted down 7-6 (one of the DNC delegates voted with each side). A ban on fracking? Voted down 7-6. An effort to keep fossils in the ground, at least on federal land? Voted down 7-6. A measure to mandate that federal agencies weigh the climate impact of their decisions? Voted down 7-6. Even a plan to keep fossil fuel companies from taking private land by eminent domain, voted down 7-6. (We did, however, reach unanimous consent on more bike paths!)’”
SevenStrings writes—Ignore McKibben: “Bill McKibben, noted environmental activist, has a post up in politico where he appears to be stirring the pot for Bernie Sanders again. [...] So let us consider thisA ban on fracking has only one short term effect: an increase in gas prices in the short term. And it will have zero long term effect. Zero. [...] Because the long run is going to be dominated by electric cars. Electric cars are cheaper to operate (the cost of fuel is 1/3 that of gasoline cars, and maintenance costs are almost zero) than gasoline cars. The only thing holding back electric cars today is driving range, combined with range anxiety in consumers. Both of those are fixable issues. And as they get fixed, gasoline consumption (and thus demand and prices) will plummet.”
BlackBear50 writes—Bill McKibben confirms our fears regarding Clinton: “All talk, no substance. I will highlight one paragraph from this perfect summation of why so many Democrats don’t trust Clinton and don’t believe she’s on our side. "At which point we got (about 11 p.m., in a half-deserted hotel ballroom) to the climate section of the platform, and that’s where things got particularly obvious. We all agreed that America should be operating on 100 percent clean energy by 2050, but then I proposed, in one amendment after another, a series of ways we might actually get there. A carbon tax? Voted down 7-6 (one of the DNC delegates voted with each side). A ban on fracking? Voted down 7-6. An effort to keep fossils in the ground, at least on federal land? Voted down 7-6. A measure to mandate that federal agencies weigh the climate impact of their decisions? Voted down 7-6. Even a plan to keep fossil fuel companies from taking private land by eminent domain, voted down 7-6. (We did, however, reach unanimous consent on more bike paths!) In other words, the Clinton campaign is at this point rhetorically committed to taking on our worst problems, but not willing to say how."
InfiniteThoughts writes—I don't share Bill McKibben & Sen Sanders' pessimism on US Energy Policy (thanks to Hillary): “Tripling renewable net additional capacity in a decade is a challenge but a manageable one at that. So, it is not outlandish to think that we can hit 44-45 GW per year of renewable capacity addition by 2025. We shouldn't be complacent but at the same time, we shouldn't overplay the challenge as well. Hillary's #1 energy policy and climate change addressal is installing 500 million solar panels by the end of her first term. Experts are calling her plan — ambitious but achievable. A high end residential solar panel (residential are lower capacity & that's the worst case) is rated at 345 watts. So, that's 172.5 GW of installed capacity over the next 4 years - 40 GW per year just from solar! There are multiple approaches to 80% (or even 100% renewables) by 2050. All roads don't have to be the road that leads us through carbon tax + fracking ban + exploration ban in federal ban + all dept. climate change analysis.”
poopdogcomedy writes—MD, HI & NV-Sen: Jeff Merkley (D. OR) Helps These Climate Hawks Hold Onto These Three Seats: “Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D. OR): We saw it play out in this year’s riveting NBA playoffs: Good offense often starts with good defense. Blocked shots on the defensive end leading to layups at the other end – that’s how you do it. And that’s how we’ve got to do it this year if we’re going to take back the Senate. We’ve got to hold critical seats in Hawaii, Nevada, and Maryland, and do it by electing committed Climate Champions. Will you help us elect these Climate Champs? Chip in right now before the big FEC deadline and stand with Brian Schatz, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Chris Van Hollen!”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Walter Einenkel writes—There are more than 5,300 water systems in the U.S. that violate EPA's lead and copper regulations: “From failing to properly test water for lead all the way to failing to tell communities about contaminations, there are more than 5,300 water systems in the United States in violation of basic federal regulations of water management. Eighteen million Americans live in communities where the water systems are in violation of the law. Moreover, the federal agency in charge of making sure those systems are safe not only knows the issues exist, but it's done very little to stop them, according to a new report and information provided to CNN by multiple sources and water experts. ‘Imagine a cop sitting, watching people run stop signs, and speed at 90 miles per hour in small communities and still doing absolutely nothing about it—knowing the people who are violating the law. And doing nothing. That's unfortunately what we have now,’ said Erik Olson, health program director at Natural Resources Defense Council, which analyzed the EPA's data for its report.”
6412093 writes—Ohio governor Kasich wants to balance Ohio’s budget with diverted toxic-clean up money: “For over a century, oil and gas drillers have peppered Ohio with countless thousands of wells. Those speculators have since abandoned most of their operations. But some of those left-behind, ‘orphan’ wells are still spewing poisonous and hazardous materials from underground deposits into nearby homes, buildings and farm lands. Ohio requires oil and gas producers to pay into a fund for plugging those wells. But the State is remediating only about 20 wells a year, leaving thousands of wells untended. Yet Southeast Ohio’s recent oil and gas fracking boom has generated millions of increased income for the Orphan Well fund and related activities, from Ohio’s modest severance tax on oil and gas production. But rather than dedicate a major share of that severance tax windfall into a comprehensive program to rid Ohio of its orphan wells, Kasich is seeking instead to divert most of that money into the general fund to pay for tax cuts, and spend only the legal minimum on orphan well plugging.”
ENERGY
Nuclear & Fossil Fuels
jpmassar writes—Oakland Just Banned Coal! Coal Processing, Loading and Unloading Banned in Oakland: “At approximately 9:00 PM on Monday, June 27th, 2016, after likely more than a hundred public speakers, the Oakland City Council, by votes of 7-0 and 7-0, banned coal processing in Oakland and specifically banned the processing, loading and unloading of coal at a proposed bulk loading facility at an old Army Base facility in West Oakland. This had been a bitter battle between the developers of the project — who had originally given written and verbal assurances that coal was not part of the plan and then reneged — and most of the Oakland community who wanted no part of the health, safety and environmental dangers associated with coal.”
liberaldad2 writes—Here’s a win-win suggestion for Hillary. Let’s pay coal miners to find another job: “Consider the following modest proposal for a Hillary platform position that would address this problem in an effective and politically advantageous fashion. How about an income tax credit for anyone working in the fossil fuel industry who wants to take classes to be retrained to work in another industry? It could be incorporated into the overall plank on education reform. It would be unrestricted in terms of the specific field of study the student chose, whether technical, financial, creative, religious, whatever. It could be structured so that it would result in cash back for the applicant, even if the credit exceeded their total tax obligation.”
Hydraulic Fracturing
Walter Einenkel writes—Almost 20% of oil and gas fracking projects in California occur in freshwater zones: “A new study by researchers out of the Earth System Science Department of Stanford University has found that 15 to 19 percent of oil and gas activities are occurring in freshwater zones. The study by Stanford scientists assessed the amount of groundwater that could be used for irrigation and drinking supplies in five counties of California's agricultural Central Valley, as well as the three coastal counties encompassing Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The study estimated that water-scarce California could have almost three times as much fresh groundwater as previously thought. The good news is that because of concerns about oil and gas business and its effects on groundwater supplies, we are beginning to look at more and more data. The bad news is that we still don’t really know much about how or to what end our groundwater supplies are affected by the oil and gas industry.”
jhop7 writes—Chesapeake Energy: a New Level of Greed: “Chesapeake Energy, as most of you may know, is a major player in fracking shale formations for natural gas. They have been known to use any and all available dodges to pay landowners the least possible compensation for the natural gas they extract from their property. I thought I’d heard them all, as reported on the webz, but I had a conversation with a customer on Saturday that touched on one that was new to me… Chesapeake Energy fracks her husband’s property up-state. Apparently, the royalties haven’t been very good for a while. Recently, however, her husband received a BILL from Chesapeake because the wells on his property ‘operated at a loss that month.’ Really? Now, she quickly added that they clarified ‘future extraction royalties’ were sure to cover this bill, but I’m interested in investigating what precedents or strategies they are employing here.”
Steve Horn writes—Obama Approved Over 1,500 Offshore Gulf Fracking Wells: Corporate Media Ignored It: “On June 24, the independent news website TruthOut broke a doozy of a story: the Obama Administration has secretly approved over 1,500 instances of offshore hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) in the Gulf of Mexico, including during the Deepwater Horizon offshore spill disaster. Albeit released on a Friday, a day where many mainstream media reporters head out of the office early and venture to late-afternoon and early-evening Happy Hour specials at the bars, the TruthOut story has received deafening silence by the corporate-owned media apparatus. [...]TruthOut got its hands on the story via documents provided by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). CBD explained in press release that they ‘obtained the information following an agreement that settled a lawsuit challenging the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s failure to disclose documents regarding the scope of offshore fracking in the Gulf under the Freedom of Information Act.’”
dedwoods writes—Will the Frack Master’s American Express Card Be Suspended? “TPM reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against eight executives of Breitling Energy Corp., including CEO Chris Faulkner, the mogully Texas frack master. According to the SEC, Mr. Faulkner “carried out an elaborate $80 million fraud scheme to fund his extravagant lifestyle, including a penchant for strippers.’ According to the SEC, [Chris Faulkner] and seven others at his company allegedly defrauded investors by giving them misleading information and manipulating Breitling’s stock. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Dallas, accused Faulkner of misappropriating ‘at least $30 million in investor funds to maintain a lifestyle of decadence and debauchery.’"
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
cliffdonna67 writes—TransCanada to sue United States under NAFTA: “TransCanada filed a lawsuit on June 24 against the U.S. government under the NAFTA agreement for its rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. They are suing in the amount of more than $15 billion compensation. The company claims that the rejection violates the rights of foreign investors by frustrating their ‘expectations.’ President Obama rejected the tar sands pipeline on November 6 last year. The company is able to bring the lawsuit under NAFTA's ‘investor-state dispute settlement’ (ISDS) system. The lawsuit will be heard by an international tribunal which consists of three ‘judges.’ These are usually lawyers who act in the role of judge in some cases but are able to switch hats to become the lawyer representing the foreign corporation in other cases. The tribunal is not held accountable to any countries' legal system and the decisions are binding and cannot be appealed. The tribunal makes its decision by looking at whether the foreign corporation has received "fair and equitable treatment.’ If successful, TransCanada will be able to bypass the courts of the U.S. and the safeguards it has built in to its laws and regulations to protect the environment. But, the Keystone XL pipeline itself is not able to be revived regardless of the outcome of the decision.”
ECO-ESSAYS & PROPOSALS
mschultz writes—5 Reasons the United States Is So Behind on Climate Change: “So why does the United States remain behind its contemporaries in terms of taking substantial action? There are a handful of reasons for this: 1. Change is hard to manage at the federal level. Lots of environmental bills have been developed, only to be road-blocked in Congress. The truth is, change is hard to develop and pass at a federal level. It’s why regional and state-wide policies have become more common and fluid means of reducing GHG emissions. 2. Top-down models aren’t typically effective. The Kyoto Protocol was good, but setting firm standards in a top-down model doesn’t work well for every country. Thankfully, new international programs and policies, like the Paris Agreement, are starting to override these now-obsolete schools of thinking. 3. We’re afraid of falling behind. Some of the biggest contributors to GHG emissions are the central industries that drive our economy. If we start cutting back on these emissions before developing countries do, our industries could theoretically weaken, and we could be overtaken by the rising force of developing nations. In short, we’re afraid of falling behind—but thankfully, closer partnerships with countries like China are starting to reverse this effect.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Pakalolo writes—Florida coastal environments collapsing due to GOP governance. Where is the national media? There is no tropical storm off the coast of Stuart Florida, but double red flags are up in Martin County Florida beaches anyways. Sgt. Steven Hearn with the Martin County Sheriff's Office Community Policing Unit stated that his deputies posted double red flags and posted warnings that toxic algae is in the water and that it can cause serious health issues. Lifeguards and deputies cleared hundreds of people out of the water recently. And it’s not just Martin County, beaches in St. Lucie County have closed and the toxic algae bloom is moving south into Palm Beach County. Big sugar and other agricultural interests pump the public’s water from Lake Okeechobee to irrigate their fields, then send the water; polluted with fertilizer and other farm chemicals, back into Lake Okeechobee. We have received a lot of rain since January and state officials are concerned that the aging dikes holding back the water could collapse. So Rick Scott and other republican power brokers devised a disastrous plan to divert this toxic water, which is estimated flow at the ungodly rate of some 70,000 gallons per second, through two major Floridian rivers; the St. Lucie river and the Caloosahatchee River – each waterway flowing to a different coastline.
VetWife writes—Toxic Water in Florida...Scott dodges health questions and no show for meetings! “Take a look at our beaches and how our wildlife and human health is being affected due to the runoff of Lake Okeechobee. Don’t go near the water … !!! Emergency meetings being held and Scott is passing the buck. He could at least show up at the meetings. This is very serious as it is affecting not only wildlife but the health of it’s citizens. It's gone beyond a fishery problem. It's gone beyond an ecological problem. It's a human health problem, and it's a legacy problem. These toxins aren't only in the water now, they remain in the sediment. They remain in the soils, remain in the shoreline, remain in the fish. It's hard to live here now," said one speaker at the meeting.”
Skeptical Raptor writes—GMO labeling law – US Senate thinks they're smarter than scientists: “I actually thought that the GMO denier arguments were petering out. I also actually thought I could focus on the vaccine deniers, since they’re like cockroaches, hiding in the dark. But I was wrong. The United States Senate, in a rare bipartisan action, wrote a compromise GMO labeling law. I, and many others, consider the anti-GMO movement to be made up of ‘climate change deniers of the left.’ They both ignore high quality science and the scientific consensus, just to invent their own conclusions. It is frustrating, especially since I expect more out of progressives. The GMO labeling law is frustrating and confusing. We need to examine it with scientific skepticism.”