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Video & Multimedia

In reply to the discussion: Genetic Roulette [View all]

proverbialwisdom

(4,959 posts)
14. 'Romney & Bain Boosted Agriculture Giant Monsanto In Spite Of Toxic Past' (ThinkProgress.org)
Mon Sep 17, 2012, 12:49 PM
Sep 2012

Last edited Tue Sep 18, 2012, 10:01 AM - Edit history (1)

This deserves traction.

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/09/14/850321/romney-monsanto/?mobile=nc

Romney And Bain Boosted Agriculture Giant Monsanto In Spite Of Toxic Past

By Aviva Shen on Sep 14, 2012 at 11:37 am



Biotechnology firm Monsanto Company, which currently owns most of the patents for America’s staple crops, is already cozy with American lawmakers. A new Nation report, however, indicates that “a very old friend in a very high place” may usher in the corporation’s most prosperous years yet.

The Nation’s investigative report ( http://www.thenation.com/article/169885/mitt-romney-monsanto-man# ) has uncovered how Mitt Romney personally helped Monsanto shed its string of toxic chemical-related scandals and reinvent itself to dominate American agriculture. Monsanto, an early Bain & Company client, was so impressed with Romney that they started bypassing his superiors to deal with him directly. Romney’s close relationship with then CEO John Hanley prompted his boss to create Bain Capital to keep Romney from leaving and taking their largest consulting client with him.

From 1977 to 1985, Romney helped navigate Monsanto through very rocky waters. The agribusiness was flooded with lawsuits after Congress banned the toxic coolant PCBs, a Monsanto product that has been linked to cancer and neurological disorders. At the same time, Monsanto’s Agent Orange toxin, used to defoliate jungles in the Vietnam War, was linked to the contamination of millions of Vietnamese and American soldiers and had been dubbed “the largest chemical warfare operation” in human history.

Tom Philpott at Mother Jones dug up a 2002 article ( http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/romney-monsanto-bain ) describing Monsanto’s attempts to hide its toxic waste disposal even after managers discovered fish “spurting blood and shedding skin” within 10 seconds of the PCB dump:
Monsanto Co. routinely discharged toxic waste into a west Anniston [Alabama] creek and dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into oozing open-pit landfills. And thousands of pages of Monsanto documents—many emblazoned with warnings such as “CONFIDENTIAL: Read and Destroy”—show that for decades, the corporate giant concealed what it did and what it knew.

Faced with costly litigation, Monsanto relied on Romney to create their new public image — one that did not involve poisoning soldiers or dumping chemicals in rivers:
Dr. Earl Beaver, who was Monsanto’s waste director during the Bain period, says that Bain was certainly “aware” of the “PCB and dioxin scandals” because they created “a negative public perception that was costing the company money.” So Bain recommended focusing “on the businesses that didn’t have those perceptions,” Beaver recalls, starting with “life science products that were biologically based,” including genetically engineered crops, as well as Roundup, the hugely profitable weed-killer. “These were the products that Bain gave their go-ahead to,” Beaver contends, noting that Romney was a key player, “reviewing the data collected by other people and developing alternatives,” talking mostly to “the higher muckety-mucks.”


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Genetic Roulette [View all] mother earth Sep 2012 OP
Genetically modified foods…Are They Safe? mother earth Sep 2012 #1
RECOMMENDED: 'Scientists Under Attack' (German documentary on independent biotech researchers) proverbialwisdom Sep 2012 #15
Related info here. proverbialwisdom Sep 2012 #2
California's 'YES on Prop 37' website here. proverbialwisdom Sep 2012 #3
News at the national level here - http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/campaigns/ . proverbialwisdom Sep 2012 #4
A huge thank you for all the added info. This needs to be made known to all. mother earth Sep 2012 #6
+1000. k and r bbgrunt Sep 2012 #5
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bs link proverbialwisdom Sep 2012 #11
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The new film is narrated by Lisa Oz. I look forward to seeing it. proverbialwisdom Sep 2012 #13
'Romney & Bain Boosted Agriculture Giant Monsanto In Spite Of Toxic Past' (ThinkProgress.org) proverbialwisdom Sep 2012 #14
VIDEO: Alex Bogusky interviews Robyn O’Brien, author of "The Unhealthy Truth." proverbialwisdom Sep 2012 #16
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