What is Environmental Commons?

Environmental Commons encourages involvement in the democratic process to defend our environmental heritage - water, air, biodiversity, and genetic variability - known as 'the commons.' Conserving environmental quality is undeniably linked to the quality of our own lives - our health, the health of our ecosystems, and the health of future generations.

Environmental Commons works to preserve our natural areas, protect wildlife, and promote sustainable policies, environmental education, and informed democratic discussions. We are based in northern California operating on a local, regional, and state level.

Agribusiness Targets State Legislators
to Pre-empt Local Laws on Seeds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 14, 2005

Contact: Brian Tokar, Biotechnology Project Director, Institute for
Social Ecology, Vermont, (802) 229-0087 briant@sover.net;

Britt Bailey, Director, Environmental Commons, California, (707)
884-5002; 

Stephanie Weisenbach, Sustainable agriculture advocate, Iowa, (515) 
556-4873 iowacleanwater@yahoo.com

Legislators in eight states have passed bills preventing counties, 
towns and cities from introducing ordinances, resolutions, or other 
legislation relating to agricultural seeds. These seed pre-emption 
bills are an orchestrated industry response to recent local actions on 
genetically modified organisms. For example, ballot initiatives in 
three California counties have prohibited the cultivation of 
genetically modified crops, livestock, and other organisms, and nearly 
100 New England towns have passed various resolutions in support of 
limits on genetically engineered crops.

“Pre-emptive seed laws serve the agribusiness industry by weakening 
local laws and precluding the introduction of stronger protections in 
the future,” said Britt Bailey of Environmental Commons.  “They are 
industry’s stealth response to a growing movement of people that are 
seeking to protect their communities at the local level.”

“Over the past several years in Iowa, we’ve seen local control be taken 
away for the benefit of the corporate hog industry,” said George 
Naylor, an Iowa farmer and President of the National Family Farm 
Coalition. “With this seed pre-emption legislation recently signed into 
law, we are now losing our ability to protect ourselves from 
irresponsible corporations aiming to control the agricultural seeds 
planted throughout the state.”

In the past decade, the same preemptive strategy has been used by the 
tobacco industry and the National Rifle Association to thwart local 
efforts to introduce more stringent smoking and gun laws, respectively. 
As Tina Walls of Phillip Morris & Co. admitted, “By introducing 
preemptive statewide legislation, we can shift the battle away from the 
community level back to the state legislatures where we are on stronger 
ground.” 

See attached backgrounder (online at 
www.environmentalcommons.org/seedlawbackgrounder.html) for contacts, 
resources, and discussions of:

•  Why this  is a challenge to local rights.
 •  Who is  behind this strategy of state pre-emption.
 •  Why this  is a matter for wide public concern.
 •  What the legal  precedents are for local action.