John Foster and Jim Tantillo seem to have a lot of time on their hands for
graduate students. Maybe someone should talk to their advisors (wink, wink,
;-{) that's me with a moustache).

What this discussion is showing me is that the precautionary principle can
usefully be applied in some cases and not in others. The edict "do no harm"
is a different proposition than "prove there is no harm." All organisms
change their environments in ways that are toxic (to some degree) and
harmful to other organisms. And,  environments are hostile to most organisms
to start with. So "harm" is not really the issue. It would seem that the
ethical issues is the disruption of ecosystems (or systems) in such a way
that the "harm" outweighs the benefit. Sort of a utilitarian analysis, but
not really. I'm thinking specifically of GMO issues here. Is the ecological
benefit of no-till farming greater than the cost of possible introduction of
herbicide resistant genes into the environment? Just off-hand, and being as
I was active in research about the problems of tillage for many years, I'd
say "maybe so." I know enough about GM to know that herbicide resistance
cannot be readily transferred by cross-pollination, or at least that is what
the research says. So, in order to reduce tillage, the use of herbicide
resistant crops seems a good idea to me.

Now, getting to the general principle. Should we (society) insist on not
using GMO products until "no harm" is shown? I just can't see it. I do see
it with the use of herbicides/pesticides however. In one case GMO products
have not, as a class, been shown to be potentially harmful, only some
specific issues have been *thought* to be harmful. In the case of
pesticides, they have, as a class, been shown to be potentially harmful.

Maybe this is the precautionary principle in reverse. Maybe the ethical
issue is showing that, as a general rule, GMO products are potentially
harmful. Maybe the burden of proof is on the critics, not the producers.

Not being a graduate student, I have other things to do. Today is tomatoes
planting. I'm early by two days. May 15th being the latest frost date in
this area. By the way, I'm being attacked by aphids this year. I'm using
some chemical control because my lady-bird beetles failed to do the trick.
I'm using the least harmful stuff I can find, a herbicide "soap." I know
that this is ethically suspect, but I just can't stand to see my Columbines
and Red Twig Dogwoods die. So, am I a bad person?

sb



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