Unintended consequences.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., by genome-editing a new grass,
has evaded the Feds who can’t regulate tactics*
not envisioned when the regs were created in 1986.
A scoop for Scotts?
Or will it be like it was for the Pelican we watched scoop up stunned menhaden,
only to be grabbed by a huge comber & slammed against the shore cliffs?
He was rescued, but the damage was severe.
Unintended consequences.
PATTY
*Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumer’s Union told the NYT: “They are using a technical loophole so that what are clearly genetically engineered crops and organisms are escaping regulation. Scotts’ grass can have all sorts of ecological impact and no one is required to look at it.”
I watched the Brown Pelican get dashed against the cliffs. Then, two long-distance, surf swimmers ran down the seawall steps, and, in between crashing waves, deftly grabbed the bird–keeping one hand around its body and the other around its beak–and raced back up the stairs to the relative safety of the clifftop. There they summoned animal rescue people. The bird’s neck was not broken, but he did seem sorely wounded. (La Jolla CA December 2014)
I have always wondered about that Miracle Gro product. It seems a little sci-fi to me. That poor pelican was lucky there were people willing to rescue it. It sounded a bit dangerous. I hope the outcome was good.
LikeLike