Over the past few years, Monsanto, a chemical firm, has positioned
itself as an agricultural company through control over seed – the
first link in the food chain. Monsanto now wants to control water, the
very basis of life.

In 1996, Monsanto bought the biotechnology assets of Agracetus, a
subsidiary of W. R. Grace, for $150 million and Calgene, a
California-based plant biotechnology company for $340 million. In
1997, Monsanto acquired Holden seeds, the Brazilian seed company,
Sementes Agrocerus and Asgrow. In 1998, it purchased Cargill’s seed
operations for $1.4 billion and bought Delta and Pine land for $1.82
billion and Dekalb for $2.3 billion.

In India, Monsanto has bought MAHYCO, Maharashtra Hybrid Company, EID

Parry and Rallis. Mr. Jack Kennedy of Monsanto has said, ‘we propose
to penetrate the Indian agricultural sector in a big way. MAHYCO is a
good vehicle.’ According to Mr. Robert Farley of Monsanto, ‘what you
are seeing is not just a consolidation of seed companies, it’s really
a consolidation of the entire food chain. Since water is as central to
food production as seed is, and without water life is not possible,
Monsanto is now trying to establish its control over water. During
1999, Monsanto plans to […]

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On Friday, the New York Times reported on the front page that Citigroup drafted most of a House bill that would allow banks to engage in risky trades backed by a potential taxpayer-funded bailout. The Times notes that ‘Citigroup’s recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the House committee’s 85-line bill.’ Special-interest lobbyists often play a role in writing legislation on the Hill, but such sausage-making is rarely revealed to the public. In this instance, members of Congress and a band of lobbyists have been caught red-handed, and Mother Jones has obtained the Citigroup draft that is practically identical to the House bill. As you can see in the side-by-side comparison below, the lobbyists for Citigroup really earned their pay on this job.

The bill, called the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act, was approved by the House financial services committee in May and is headed for a vote on the House floor soon. It would gut a section of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform act called the ‘push-out rule.’ Banks hate the push-out rule, which is scheduled to go into effect on July 13, because this provision will forbid them from trading certain derivatives (which are complicated financial instruments with […]

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LIVERMORE, Calif. — Lawrence Livermore scientists have discovered and demonstrated a new technique to remove and store atmospheric carbon dioxide while generating carbon-negative hydrogen and producing alkalinity, which can be used to offset ocean acidification.

The team demonstrated, at a laboratory scale, a system that uses the acidity normally produced in saline water electrolysis to accelerate silicate mineral dissolution while producing hydrogen fuel and other gases. The resulting electrolyte solution was shown to be significantly elevated in hydroxide concentration that in turn proved strongly absorptive and retentive of atmospheric CO2.

Further, the researchers suggest that the carbonate and bicarbonate produced in the process could be used to mitigate ongoing ocean acidification, similar to how an Alka Seltzer neutralizes excess acid in the stomach.

‘We not only found a way to remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while producing valuable H2, we also suggest that we can help save marine ecosystems with this new technique,’ said Greg Rau, an LLNL visiting scientist, senior scientist at UC Santa Cruz and lead author of a paper appearing this week (May 27) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, a significant fraction is passively taken up […]

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EDMONTON — In Arctic summers, Catherine La Farge camps out at the toe of the Teardrop glacier on Ellesmere Island in Canada’s North.

The University of Alberta biologist has watched the ice retreat, up to four metres a year now, giving her an unprecedented view of what was entombed under the ice for 400 years – old rocks, mud, and her specialty, ancient moss.

One day, walking along the edge of the ice, La Farge noticed some of the moss had a greenish tinge. That gave her a hunch – could there be life in that old moss after all?

In an amazing experiment, La Farge found the frozen moss was able to revive itself though it had been buried since the Little Ice Age (1550-1850). Her study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, is shaking up some basic assumptions about land plants.

In the past, when scientists occasionally came across plant material previously frozen under an Arctic glacier, they assumed the plant material was dead. Discoloured and lifeless, it certainly looked like it was.

In 2009, La Farge brought samples back to the lab. On closer examination, she noticed a tiny green stem. There were two possible explanations.

‘Either […]

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If you look at the redacted decision a federal judge in the District Court of Maryland handed down last October, you would think it involves a classified CIA program, burying all pertinent information - sometimes almost entire pages - under black boxes.

But the case isn’t about a secret weapons program - it’s about baby strollers or kitchen appliances or action figures or some other consumer product. But we don’t actually know because everything, from the name of the company involved to the product it makes, is secret, thanks to a potentially unprecedented court ruling that consumer advocates fear could set a standard of allowing corporations to challenge actions they don’t like without even revealing their names. Welcome to the ‘Company Doe

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