The Other “Party of No”

The Obama administration is struggling to follow through on promises with regard to health care and climate change because of a Republican party that seems to have no interest in constructive efforts to solve problems for the American people. But the Republicans are not the only “Party of No” that will make it difficult for Obama to deliver on his promises. Soon after he came to office, the President gave a speech to the National Academy of Sciences pledging to have an administration that supports and listens to science (something that was notably lacking during his predecessor’s term). The scientific community was very encouraged, but we also knew that many of Obama’s supporters are themselves highly selective in their support of science, and so it would take some real courage to follow through on the pledge. Nuclear power is the most prominent ”test case” underway, but there is a much less publicized ”politics vs science” test underway right now for the USDA.

The Question Before The USDA

The question is: will the USDA authorities allow a permit for Arborgen to conduct field tests including flowering for a GMO Eucalypus hybrid? These are trees that have been genetically engineered to be tolerant enough to frost to someday become a new bioenergy and pulp crop for the Southeastern US. The purpose of the test is to get real-world data on an important question: does this new crop have any potential to become an invasive species? Invasiveness is a very real phenomenon, but what we already know about these trees suggests that invasiveness is very unlikely.

This particular hybrid is widely grown in Brazil and has shown no tendency to spread outside of the plantations on which it is grown. This tree has also been modified so that it does not make pollen. The hypothesis that this tree will be a well-behaved crop is quite reasonable, but in science you test your hypothesis. That is what these field tests are intended to do - on a small scale (300 acres over 7 states) and with close monitoring. If the trees show a tendency to spread, it would not be hard to get rid of them on this scale. The USDA is not being asked to make a final determination about whether to allow this to become a commercial crop, it is just being asked for permission to do the next logical scientific step. The second public comment period on this question recently closed, so now it is up to the regulators to decide.