EPA okays first pestiddal transgenic plants

摘要

One year ago, leading environmentalists, emboldened by the apparent ambivalence of the Clinton administration, called for an indefinite moratorium on the commercialization of transgenic plants, particularly those engineered with natural and synthetictoxins for protection from crop pests and herbicides. In doing so. they were playing on the political fears of successive administrations, reaching back to the Reagan presidency, that were wary of releasing genetically engineered agricultural products into the environment. These administrations had reason for concern. For one thing, public opinion polls have consistently shown that the U.S. public, even as it has accustomed itself to the idea of genetically manipulated food and crop products, was leeryof the deliberate release of genetically engineered material into U.S. fields, forests, and w:aters.