The campaign by Greenpeace and other anti-GMO groups to abolish the position of the European Union’s chief science advisor appears to have succeeded. James Wilsdon, a professor of science and democracy at the UK’s University of Sussex, laments this news in the Guardian, including the odd timing of the announcement:
Borrowing a trick from the Jo Moore school of media management, the European Commission chose the evening before the Rosetta landing to quietly confirm that its most senior scientific role, that of chief scientific adviser (CSA) to its president, is being scrapped.
Mark Lynas has a rundown at his website. He also notes:
But look – who else is celebrating the decision to abolish the European science advisor role? The climate sceptics, who hated Anne Glover’s equally accurate advice on the serious danger of climate change just as much as the greens hated her scientifically-accurate views on GMOs. It looks like Greenpeace has found itself with some uncomfortable but rather apt new bedfellows.
This is exactly what I pointed out in Slate a few years ago, which didn’t sit well in some quarters.
The green movement needs to address its GMO problem. If there are no environmentalist leaders willing to challenge the misinformation and scaremongering propagated by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other high profile vessels, such as Vandana Shiva, then the latter forces are more than happy to fill the vacuum. And they will continue to distort the science related to GMOs. That has consequences, as we see today.
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