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Post-presidential debate poll shows a shift in WI; Teamsters won't endorse in presidential race after releasing internal polling showing most members support Trump; IL energy jobs growth is strong but lacks female workers; Pregnant, Black Coloradans twice as likely to die than the overall population.

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The Teamsters choose not to endorse a presidential candidate, county officials in Texas fight back against state moves to limit voter registration efforts, and the FBI investigate suspicious packages sent to elections offices in at least 17 states.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Anti-GMO Seed Protest Culminates in Iowa

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Wednesday, December 12, 2012   

DES MOINES, Iowa - New generations of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are ready for approval by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But a petition with thousands of signatures urging Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reject these new seed varieties was delivered on Tuesday to the USDA office in Des Moines.

Signers are concerned about the risks of pesticide drift and crop damage. Denise O'Brien, a longtime farmer near Atlantic who signed the petition, says the genetically engineered crops in the pipeline are potentially more dangerous because they are designed to be used in coordination with a pesticide known as 24D.

"We are out here as guinea pigs, the public is, by using these things. They are not human-tested, until they are out into the environment."

Seed companies, she says, are advancing these new products because weeds are becoming resistant to existing GMOs.

"That is exactly what's going to happen to the next generation. The corporations keep trying to dominate nature, and nature always seems to come out with weed resistance. "

O'Brien stresses that the risk of drift will cause conventional farmers to lose crops, while organic farmers will lose both their crops and their organic certification.

Dow AgroChemical says the new version of its herbicides is a drift-resistant formula that is less dangerous. O'Brien says the way to successfully fight weeds is how farmers did it for generations - with crop rotation.

More information about the controversy is at panna.org.


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