The Gaia Reports

By Theodora Filis Monsanto, the multinational agricultural biotech giant, is also the world’s largest producer of genetically engineered seeds. Notorious for its aggressive and heavy-handed business tactics, and questionable ethics, Monsanto is deeply entrenched in our political system, having spent $2 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2009. The policy Justice Thomas oversaw claimed that the agency was not aware of any information showing that GMO crops were no different in any meaningful or uniform way, and therefore didn’t need testing. However, 44,000 FDA internal documents made public from a lawsuit showed that this was a complete lie. The overwhelming consensus among the FDA’s own scientists was that GMO foods were quite different and could lead to unpredictable and hard-to-detect allergens, toxins, new diseases, and nutritional problems. They suggested long-term studies but were ignored. Last week, WikiLeaks released new diplomatic cables presenting more facts ...

By Theodora Filis Environmental and health concerns have people around the world calling for a ban on natural gas drilling. The global warming effects of methane in natural gas are many times greater than the global warming effects of carbon dioxide. Subsidies granted to gas drilling promote the use of fossil fuels and undermine the development of conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy sources. From the Permian Basin (western Texas and the southeastern part of New Mexico) to the Paris Basin, from Pennsylvania to Poland it is clear that in the next 20 years, the global natural gas industry will not only be far bigger and more valuable than it is in 2011, but it will also be much more diversified. Communities around the world will be faced with costs for baseline testing of water pollutants, emergency response, health department monitoring of complaints, property tax assessment changes, building and repairing roads, and wastewater treatment facilities. Samples of flowback...

By Theodora Filis In what is now northern Ukraine, in the small village of Pripyat, in the city of Chornobyl, a catastrophic nuclear meltdown occurred 25 years ago on April 26, 1986. Together with the recent nuclear crisis in Japan, we need to ask ourselves if the world has progressed toward safer nuclear energy. “ It was a massive explosion- ten times the size of the Hiroshima bomb. It flung into the air 120 Tons of red-hot nuclear fuel and more than 100 Tons of reactor graphite. The 500-Ton "biological shield" built over the reactor was hurled into the air, crashing back down at an angle, leaving the reactor core exposed- spewing massive amounts of radiation. Flames shot 600 feet into the air. Fires started. Pieces of radioactive material were mashed into the structural debris. Almost 50 Tons of nuclear fuel were evaporated into dust, blown by the wind northwest across Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Baltic States.”  The Truth About Chernobyl , by Grigori Medvedev Thir...

By Theodora Filis A new report, published in Environmental Sciences Europe on March 1, 2011, confirms a diet of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) affects the liver and kidney, the major reactive organs in cases of chronic food toxicity. “Other organs may be affected too, such as the heart and spleen, or blood cells,” stated the paper. “In fact, some of the animals fed genetically modified organisms had altered body weights in at least one gender, which is “a very good predictor of side effects in various organs.” The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) also reports that “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food,” including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. The AAEM asked physicians to advise patients to avoid Genetically Modified (GM) foods. Before the FDA decided to allow GMOs into food without labeling, FDA scientists had...

By Theodora Filis Climate experts predicted that this year’s winter season could bring the snowiest, coldest weather in Europe for the past century. They were right! The timing was a bit off though, winter didn’t officially begin until December 21st, but snow and ice have wreaked havoc throughout Europe and North America all month.  Snowstorms in Europe have caused the death of over 100 people due to the cold weather conditions. The death toll in Poland is now up to 42 people. Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Germany have been hit significantly in the last few days with death tolls rising under cold temperatures as low as -33C: A cold front continues to sweep across Europe with numerous snowstorms and subzero temperatures being reported in Belgium, Austria, France, Italy, the UK, and other places. In the Austrian province of Styria, 2 people froze to death in -20C temperatures trying to get home. Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall have left travelers stranded across Europe...