While we focus our energies on mountain top removal and other local issues, we are in danger of getting blind-sided by much greater threats in our Earthly milieu. Think globally, act locally, is fine as long as we continue to think globally, stay informed and not let industry propaganda sink us into a narrow path.

What has the potential for being the greatest threat of all -- greater than atomic energy -- greater than global warming -- greater than the loss of the ozone layer-- is the rapid deployment of new created life forms which stem from the science of genetic engineering (called benignly "life science" by those companies who have both feet planted in this technology). Multinational corporations like Monsanto have been gradually getting control of the food supply through the use of this new technology – it is a power mad elite’s dream. Where Hitler wanted control over lands and peoples, what could be more encompassing that control over the biology of all living things. It is truly a God power and for the Earth and every living thing on it, a potential nightmare of the highest order.

Ofttimes I get the idea that while we who have a broader awareness than those in the mental confines of acquiring ever greater profits work to put out this fire or that, behind us, temporarily out of our vision, rages up a fire of catastrophic proportions which dwarfs the one we are currently battling. It is difficult to not allow an existential fatigue to overwhelm us while the profit grubbers in their energetic glee get free reign to wreak their havoc on the planet.

It is not the greed or the amassing of economic power and control per se that is the principle concern. After all, those who are in the business of profits in the genetic engineering field have to live on the planet, too. The greatest danger is the headlong destruction of Earth’s ecosystems. In so many technical areas in the past, the headlong rush to put to use a new technology in the service of profits has led to big problems down the road. Examples are the proliferation of nuclear power and weapons, and the unbridled development and manufacture of dangerous pesticides and herbicides. The true story of these disasters has been downplayed for years by our government and the media.

The fat is that the very biological characteristics of the organisms being created may well have an out-of-control insidious influence on many of our natural life forms. And that includes human beings. We don’t have a clue for certain what these dangers might be, but a lot of responsible scientists have outlined some of them for consideration. Not only is our government blind to these warnings, but is also actively involved in and subsidizing genetic engineering.

According to Ronnie Cummins of the Campaign for Food Safety & Organic Consumers Action, "Genetic engineering poses unprecedented ethical and social concerns, s well as serious challenges to the environment, human health, animal welfare and the future of agriculture."

Sonja Schmitz, who used to work for the industry as a genetic engineer, has a major concern that the genetic pollution of natural populations will create new weeds and disrupt ecosystems. In the competitive drive for profits, those who direct the development do not consider the potential consequences. Quoting Schmitz, "...pollen and seeds carrying new genetic information are mixing with wild populations in the biggest experiment the global environment has yet be forced to bear." Considering the history of human "experiments" and some of their consequences on the global ecology to date, this is a scary thought.

The rapidity in which the creation and distribution of genetically engineered is progressing, combined with a lack of media coverage (which will go on interminably into the sex life of our president) has caught the public with their pants down, so to speak. Those who know much of what is going on and who have deep concerns which they have articulated, such as journalists, scientists and educators, have been fired, blacklisted or otherwise banned from their chosen professions. There needs to be a major wake-up call, but from where will it come?

For excellent sources of information on this subject, contact WD Press, Synthesis/Regeneation, PO Box 24115, St. Louis, MO 63130.