The American Farm Bureau has declared war. On you. The AFBF is officially opposed to climate legislation, and is in league with climate deniers. But that's not all. As explained by Grist's Tom Laskawy:
Patton. In times of war. The war that made Patton famous and infamous being the Second World War. Which, in Stallman's diseased mind, makes those opposed to chemicals in food and in favor of addressing climate change akin to whom, exactly? In the online world, we'd call that going Godwin.
And the Farm Bureau's opposition comes in the form of firm climate denial. The Times:
And the American Farm Bureau's only speaker on climate change comes from this very respectable organization? Meanwhile, actual scientists are trying to talk sense to the Farm Bureau. As reported by Reuters:
Jimmy Adegoke, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Geosciences
University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO
Walter Auch, Ph.D.
Scientific Consultant, Plant and Soil Science
University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Catherine Badgley, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan, Chelsea, MI
Richard Baker, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Geosciences
University of Iowa, Atalissa, IA
William Bland, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Soil Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Jim Bouldin, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist, Plant Sciences
University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
Robert Brecha, Ph.D.
Professor, Physics
University of Dayton, Yellow Springs, OH
Christopher Cole, Ph.D.
Professor, Science and Mathematics
University of Minnesota, Morris, MN
Jeffrey Gaffney, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Chemistry
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR
Paul Gepts, Ph.D.
Professor, Crop and Ecosystem Sciences
University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
Sarah Green, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Chemistry
Michigan Technological University, Calumet, MI
Katherine Gross, Ph.D.
Director, Kellogg Biological Station, Plant Biology
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Kevin Gurney, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Noel Gurwick, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Food and Environment Program
Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, D.C.
Jessica Hellmann, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
Pierre-Andre Jacinthe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Earth Sciences
Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN
Laura L. Jackson, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
Stephen Jackson, Ph.D.
Professor of Botany, Director of the Program in Ecology
University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
Wesley Jarrell, Ph.D.
Professor and Interim Director, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
Lucinda Johnson, Ph.D.
Interim Center Director, Natural Resources Research Institute
University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN
James Kasting, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Geosciences
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Kaoru Kitajima, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biology
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
George Kling, Ph.D.
Robert G. Wetzel Professor of Ecology, Ecology and Evolution
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Richard Lindroth, Ph.D.
Professor, Entomology
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
John Magnuson, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor, Zoology and Limnology
Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Nathan Mantua, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Knute Nadelhoffer, Ph.D.
Director, UM Biological Station, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Raymond Najjar, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Meteorology
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Steve O'Kane, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
Michael Palmer, Ph.D.
Regents Professor, Botany
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Peter Raven, Ph.D.
President, Missouri Botanical Gardens
St. Louis, MO
G. Philip Robertson, Ph.D.
University Distinguished Professor, Crop and Soil Sciences
Michigan State University, Plainwell, MI
Donald Ross, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor, Plant and Soil Science
University of Vermont, Waltham, VT
Dork Sahagian, Ph.D.
Professor, Environmental Initiative
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
George Seielstad, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute
Missoula, MT
Rebecca Sherry, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor, Botany and Microbiology
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
Gerald Smith, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Museum of Zoology
University of Michigan, Chelsea, MI
David W. Stahle, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Geosciences
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
Hank Stevens, Ph.D.
Professor, Botany
Miami University, Oxford, OH
John Vandermeer, Ph.D.
Asa Gray Distinguished University Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Donald Waller, Ph.D.
Professor, Botany and Environmental Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Michelle Wander
Associate Professor, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
Thomas Yuill, Ph.D.
Director and Professor Emeritus, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
University Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Donald Zak, Ph.D.
Collegiate Professor, School of Natural Resources and Environment
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Farm subsidies come up for renewal in 2012, and they should be a hot political issue. And much as Stallman wants to believe he is George Patton defending family farmers and ranchers, those subsidies are not equitably distributed, and Jill Richardson has meticulously catalogued where the money goes. She makes this pointed observation:
But it's not just corporate welfare. It's about poisoning our food supply. It's about climate change denial. The AFBF's war on us is being financed by us. Let both the White House and your Senators and Congresspeople know that it's time to stop subsidizing our own destruction.