Moore, Monsanto and BIO - "talented actors in the environmental arena" (20/4/2004)

For an alternative bio to that provided for Patrick Moore in item 1 below, see: http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=89&page=M

Note that as well as having Greg Conko and Henry Miller's book on GM to look forward to later this year, Patrick Moore has also been busy scribbling - 'He has written a book The Battle for BioProgress, which details his view of Greenpeace as a "morally and intellectually bankrupt" organization.'

Another speaker at biotech Canada's big bash will be 'Robert J. Sawyer, author of science-fiction novels' - so Moore will be in good company.

Item 2 is a Greenpeace response to Moore's claims about GM.

For more on the 'pre-eminent get-together of Canada's life sciences industry' in Montreal http://www.biotech.ca/EN/nrMarch292004.htm

1.Moore, Monsanto, and BIO take stage as environmental experts
2.Why opposition to GM crops is based on sound science
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1.Moore, Monsanto, and BIO - "talented actors in the environmental arena"
Canada NewsWire April 15, 2004:
FINANCIAL NEWS DISTRIBUTION:
Attention Business/Financial Editors

BIOMEDEX 2004 - The Environment to Play a Leading Role:

MONTREAL, April 15: During BIOMEDEX 2004, the speakers invited to talk on environmental issues, Dr. Patrick Moore, Mr. Carl M. Casale and Mr. Jason Rupp, will be sharing their thoughts and experiences before engaging in an exchange with the participants next April 29, at the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel.

BIOMEDEX 2004 is proud to welcome three talented actors in the environmental arena to its proceedings this year:

- 8:30 - Dr. Patrick Moore is one of the leading international environmentalists, and this, for more than 30 years.

A founding member of Greenpeace, a former President of Greenpeace Canada and a former director of Greenpeace International, he was a member of the round table on the environment and the economy under the auspices of the Government of British Columbia from 1990 to 1994.

In 1991, he founded Greenspirit, a consulting firm devoted to environmental policies and communications in the areas of natural resources, biodiversity, energy and climatic change.

He has written a book The Battle for BioProgress, which details his view of Greenpeace as a "morally and intellectually bankrupt" organization.

During BIOMEDEX 2004, he will be examining the various struggles looming ahead for the biotechnology industry.

11:00 - Carl M. Casale, Executive Vice-President of North American Business Monsanto (Saint-Louis), has a B.A. in agricultural economics and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington.

Working at Monsanto since 1984, he was a member of the new business concept development team. After evaluating more than 500 potential concepts, he set up two new agricultural companies. With a wide-ranging expertise in the agricultural domain and well versed in its particularities, Carl M. Casale will be speaking about agri-food biotechnology next April 29.

11:00 - Jason Rupp is the Manager of the Industrial and Environmental Section of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO Washington). BIO is an industry association that has more than 1,000 members in 50 states and 37 countries. Mr. Jason Rupp was the legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson in energy, environment, transportation and business affairs.

Mr. Rupp will be speaking about the environmental benefits of biotechnology research during his presentation at BIOMEDEX.

Environmental Diversity and Concerns

In view of the impressive number of speakers who have accepted the invitation to address BIOMEDEX participants, the 2004 edition is looking very rich in all kinds of areas of discussion.

"The presence of these three renowned speakers in environmental matters demonstrates our members interest in environmental issues. By encouraging exchanges of information on this subject, BIOMEDEX 2004 will be an exceptional platform for raising the awareness of the participants regarding this key aspect of our industry", explained Mr. Perry Niro, Executive Director of BIOQuebec.

Organized by BIOQuebec, in association with the Association de l'industrie des technologies de la santDe (AITS) and BIOTECanada, BIOMEDEX 2004 represents an ideal opportunity to take the pulse of this growing industry, which continues to play a crucial role in the development of today's economy. Each year, this event attracts numerous leading players from the biotechnology, medical technology and pharmaceutical industries, including business executives, researchers, financing specialists and research and development managers. BIOQuebec is the leading bio-industry and life science network in Canada. Its mission is to promote the industry's development.

VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/orgDisplay.cgi?okey=65054

CONTACT: Perry Niro, Executive Director, BIOQuebec, (514) 733-8411, Cell: (514) 984-8944, pniro(at)bioquebec.com; Nadia Paquet, Communication et StratDegie, (514) 844-1678, Cell: (514) 576-8932, npaquet(at)comstrategie.com
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2.Why opposition to GE crops is based on sound science
The Age, February 23, 2004
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/22/1077384634002.html

Confrontational tactics are sometimes needed in the fight for a greener future, writes Steve Sawyer.

Patrick Moore, in his article "The blindness of the greens" (on this page last Monday), describes opponents of genetically engineered crops as "anti-science, anti-technology, and anti-human". But if Moore applied the logic he claims is missing from the arguments of opponents of GE crops, he would realise that such crops are no more "science" than refrigerators, nuclear weapons or washing machines.

GE crops are commercial products that result from the application of one specific technology from within a much broader field of scientific inquiry. GE crops are commercial products, not science - and there are sound scientific reasons for opposing them.

For the record, Greenpeace does not have a campaign against "biotechnology in general", as Moore asserts. Greenpeace is opposed very specifically to the deliberate release of GE organisms into the environment where their impact cannot be fully predicted.

We are not opposed to biotechnology research and are certainly


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