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This week, the Senate will take up the DARK Act, and one of its biggest cheerleaders is Senator Klobuchar Monsanto (D-MN).
Last December the Deny Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act was defeated in the Senate because democrats refused to join Republicans in trying to trample the rights of Vermont, Connecticut, Maine and Alaska who voted for the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Well, this week Republicans are bringing a new DARK Act1 for a vote in the full Senate. This new pernicious version of the bill not only halts all present and future mandatory labeling of GE food but also potentially rescinds over 130 other state seed and food protection laws and forces the USDA to create a program to promote GE foods around the world – at taxpayers’ expense!
Why are the Republicans trying it this time when they lost before? Because some Democrats have listened to the siren call of Monsanto and the other big chemical and major industrial food companies and have now voted to push the bill forward. And these Dark Act Democrats are led by Senator Amy Klobuchar who used to represent the interests of the people of Minnesota but now apparently has switched to being Senator Monsanto.
It’s bad enough for a Democrat to support the DARK Act, but Senator Klobuchar is actively promoting the passage of this bill.
Why the big switch? Well Sen. Klobuchar is up for reelection in 2018 and maybe she is thinking of her campaign war chest. In the past she has been able to rely on campaign contributions by Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta, Dow and Croplife (the Trade Association that represents all the big agrochemical companies), along with major U.S. food companies like General Mills, Coca-Cola and Pepsi2.
Sen. Klobuchar says that she is just being “scientific” when supporting the DARK Act but she must be talking about the science of fundraising. She has no scientific background in genetics or agriculture and is just reciting the talking points of Monsanto. Her claims have no basis in science, and are legally misguided. If Senator Klobuchar is serious about giving consumers the information they want about GE foods and avoiding a “patchwork” of state labeling laws, she should support the Merkley bill that would create national mandatory GE food labeling, not push the DARK Act.
What makes Senator Monsanto’s choice to lead Democratic support for the Dark Act even more damaging is that it could rescind the Minnesota wild rice protections which have profound cultural and economic impacts on Native Americans in Minnesota.
Tell Klobuchar to vote NO on the Dark Act and support the Merkley Bill for mandatory labeling of GE foods!
When you're connected you can say something like:
“I urge you to stop promoting S. 2609, the DARK Act, which would not only strip the rights of states to label GMOs and make mandatory labeling at the federal level impossible, it could also rescind Minnesota’s wild rice protections. Contrary to industry talking points, labeling GE foods will NOT increase prices - companies frequently change labels to highlight new claims without passing those costs on to consumers. If you are serious about avoiding a “patchwork” of state labeling laws, you should support Senator Merkley’s bill, which would create a uniform national mandatory GE food labeling standard.”
What else can you do? Send an email to your Senators urging them to oppose the DARK Act and support mandatory nationwide GMO labeling!
