Over a year ago I wrote a piece for Slate entitled, "GMO opponents are the climate skeptics of the left." I pointed out that, when it came to biotechnology, certain environmentalists and supposed food safety advocates acted similar to those who denied the scientific consensus on global warming. Mark Lynas recently tweeted a good example of this:
No scientific consensus on GMOs! http://t.co/t6HL0rVppk No scientific consensus on climate change! http://t.co/gwERklHrWk#denialism — Mark Lynas (@mark_lynas) November 27, 2013
My Slate piece gave anti-GMO greens heartburn. It also didn't please climate skeptics. So I can well imagine how both groups will react to a new editorial in The Economist, which carries this subhead:
Greens say climate change deniers are unscientific and dangerous. So are greens who oppose GM crops.
The policy implications of GMO opposition, which is what the editorial is about, is something I plan to delve into in the near future. Also, as I mused several days ago, I don't think mainstream greens will be able to stay (mostly) silent on this issue for much longer.
