{"id":61385,"date":"2015-07-27T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=61385"},"modified":"2015-07-27T12:27:24","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T11:27:24","slug":"bill-nye-on-glyphosate-we-accidentally-decimated-the-monarch-butterfly-population","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/07\/bill-nye-on-glyphosate-we-accidentally-decimated-the-monarch-butterfly-population\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Nye on Glyphosate: \u2018We Accidentally Decimated the Monarch Butterfly Population\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Nye is back with part two of his\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/2015\/07\/14\/was-bill-nye-paid-by-monsanto-gmos\/\" >radio appearance<\/a>, where he and co-host Chuck Nice delve even deeper into the Science Guy\u2019s\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/2015\/03\/05\/bill-nye-changed-opinion-gmos\/\" >controversial flip-flop<\/a>\u00a0on <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/news\/food-agriculture\/gmo-genetically-modified-organism\/\" >genetically modified organisms<\/a> (GMOs).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tonight\u2019s new podcast: More controversial Cosmic Queries: GMOs (Part 2) w\/ guest host <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BillNye?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >@BillNye<\/a> &amp; <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chucknicecomic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >@ChuckNiceComic<\/a>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/WC7rTkpAGb\" >http:\/\/t.co\/WC7rTkpAGb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; StarTalk (@StarTalkRadio) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StarTalkRadio\/status\/622904064372817921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >July 19, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>On the \u201caccidental decimation\u201d of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/2015\/05\/02\/david-suzuki-monarch-butterfly-milkweed\/\" >monarch butterflies <\/a>from the use of glyphosate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople developed this herbicide called <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/2015\/03\/23\/monsanto-roundup-glyphosate-cancer\/\" >glyphosate<\/a> that kills all the weeds, and kills all of everything except the plants that have this cool gene in them that allows them to grow right through it. We also killed the milkweed, and the milkweed is what the monarch butterflies rely on. So we accidentally have decimated the monarch butterfly population, reduced it over the last two decades by 90 percent \u2026 We don\u2019t want that where you are accidentally wiping out a potential pollinator species.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/billnyemonarch650-ecowatch.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-61386\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/billnyemonarch650-ecowatch.jpg\" alt=\"billnyemonarch650 ecowatch\" width=\"500\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/billnyemonarch650-ecowatch.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/billnyemonarch650-ecowatch-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>On the threat of GM-seeds flying into organic farms by the wind<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the concern of certain organic farmers, that these seeds end up in their soil and they get contaminated. [But] if you\u2019re not planting them on purpose, there\u2019s just not that much contamination. And the infamous cases, where when people claim they got canola growing that flew into their fields accidentally and started growing, there\u2019s substantial evidence that those cultivars were carefully cultivated. That is to say, one guy claimed that these seeds flew into his field, but they really didn\u2019t\u2014he really planted them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the use of GM-seeds in other countries<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn India where there\u2019s a lot of subsistence or near-subsistence farming, in Africa where there\u2019s a lot of close-to-the-bone farming, everyone embraces genetically modified seeds because they get much higher yields and they are not subject to these pests and these plant diseases that are troublesome for farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the use of genetically modified animals for scientific experimentations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do genetically modify animals\u2014we\u2019re talking about lab rats that glow in the dark, those little mice. These are very important to our research. These are very important to the way humans know our genes. On balance, I\u2019m in favor of it, and I\u2019m not a vegetarian and maybe one day soon I\u2019ll become one. But I understand we raise animals to kill them and eat them routinely. By analogy we raise, especially mice, for laboratory studies that enable wonderful things. With that said I\u2019m very sympathetic. There\u2019s a line you draw. A rhesus monkey is very similar\u2014and to me in many ways superior\u2014to my old boss. So I understand when you don\u2019t want to do experiments on that guy or gal \u2026. I think it\u2019s still very important for humankind to have access to so called \u2018laboratory models\u2019\u2014that\u2019s a noun they use to describe these rats and mice whose genes we have modified to understand our own genes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the pros of genetically modified food<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe good side is, we get more yield per hectare or acre. In other words, we have less impactful farming. In other words, we affect the ecosystem less because we\u2019ll produce more food on less land.\u00a0We are using biology to fight pests and diseases rather than chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the cons of genetically modified food<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe one that everyone has observed is the monarch butterflies, where we have reduced their population 90 percent not as as consequence exactly of raising genetically modified food, but by using this extraordinary effective herbicide that has killed the milk flowers, or milkweeds, which nourish the monarchs \u2026. Are there other insects that you infected accidentally by messing up their food source?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nye continued, \u00a0\u201cAnd the other unintended consequence [is] <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/tag\/monocultures\/\" >monoculture farming<\/a>. Enormous tracts of a single type of plant make it very hard for bees, as pollinators, to get the job done. They got to go there, do that one crop, then there\u2019s nothing to do. And somebody puts them back in a box and puts them in a truck and takes them to a different crop, and they just get beaten up, they can\u2019t handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe unintended consequences are things like the monarch butterflies and this monoculture farming, which affects the pollinators and our whole agricultural system. So these are things that are avoidable. So it\u2019s good and bad, but it\u2019s manageable. I just think it\u2019s a necessary consequence when you\u2019re going to have 7.2 billion [people] become 9.2 billion you\u2019re join to have to do something to feed them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the public\u2019s fear of corporations controlling our food supply<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBear in mind farmers make choices \u2026 they can buy seeds from this guy or that guy. And like everything else \u2026 things have gotten consolidated because international commerce has made it more efficient. And I understand our fear of corporations, but nevertheless, that is manageable through\u2014dare I say it\u2014regulation, where you would make it so the marketplace is generally fair. This seems like a very solvable problem \u2026 I\u2019m not worried about The Man taking over the world because farmers make choices, and producing seeds with certain characteristics is a very competitive business.\u00a0[For instance,] RoundUp is a very famous brand, but there are dozens of companies, several of them are in Asia that manufacture a very similar glyphosate salt that is well-suited as an herbicide. It\u2019s a competitive business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nye\u00a0added, \u201cFarmers choose what seeds to plant based on the ones that perform the best, not based on gunpoint from a corporation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the organic farming market and Whole Foods\u2019 prices<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is why the non-GMO\u00a0movement has a place. We will see if that\u2019s economically competitive. You can say corporations\u00a0are squashing them. I don\u2019t think so. You\u2019ll find that organic farming\u00a0takes more\u00a0input than\u00a0farming with genetically modified crops. So we\u2019ll let the marketplace sort that out \u2026 They call it \u2018Whole Paycheck\u2019 because the food is so expensive, because it\u2019s\u00a0grown in small quantities with high input.\u00a0So we\u2019ll see what happens in the marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/2015\/07\/22\/bill-nye-glyphosate\/?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&amp;utm_campaign=11f020c89b-Top_News_7_22_2015&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-11f020c89b-85881545#\" >Go to Original \u2013 ecowatch.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People developed this herbicide called glyphosate that kills all the weeds, and kills all of everything except the plants that have this cool gene in them that allows them to grow right through it. So we accidentally have decimated the monarch butterfly population, reduced it over the last two decades by 90 percent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}