The following is an excerpt.
Overheard from an Oregon legislator as he exited a committee meeting at the Capitol: “Are we regulating religion or agriculture?”
That’s a good question, and has probably crossed the minds of many legislators in Oregon, Washington state, Idaho and elsewhere as they continue to be approached by true believers who want to ban genetically engineered crops or label food made from them.
When asked to back up their arguments with facts, they really don’t say much more than they don’t like genetically modified food and they fear it will do something or other to someone or other. They follow the “precautionary principle,” which says if something can’t be proven to be safe, then it isn’t. Such principles are fine as a personal choice, but as public policy are narrow and unworkable.
Read the full article here: Zealots froth over biotechnology
