In an interview with the French television station Canal Plus, an advocate for genetically modified foods said Roundup, a weedkiller that is manufactured by chemical giant Monsanto, is safe for human consumption but refused to drink the herbicide when offered a glass by an interviewer.

Patrick Moore says he leads a campaign in support of “golden rice,” a genetically modified grain that contains high amounts of vitamin A. In the interview, which Moore says he believed would focus on “golden rice,” he says the active ingredient in the herbicide, glyphosate, is not causing cancer rates in Argentina to increase.

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The story goes that as CO2 increases in the atmosphere the oceans will absorb more of it and this will cause them to become acidic; well not exactly, but at least to become less basic. This in turn is predicted to dissolve the coral reefs and kill the oysters, clams, mussels and microscopic algae that have calcareous shells. It was named “global warming’s evil twin.”
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It is also a fact that greenhouse growers around the world purposefully inject CO² into their greenhouses to increase the growth of flowers and food up to 80 per cent. That is because CO2 in the atmosphere today is so low that plants are starved for it. Plant growth continues to increase in an atmosphere up to four to five times the current level of 400 parts per million. Yet we are told that CO2 is too high and we will suffer for it. Nothing could be further from the truth. We should celebrate CO2 as the giver of life it is.

Despite insatiable demand, many are concerned B.C.’s once-thriving shellfish industry could be sinking.

“I’d say it’s full-scale panic mode (for scallop farmers),” said Rob Saunders, CEO of Qualicum Beach-based Island Scallops.

The company has seen its scallop death rates rise to nearly 95 per cent since 2010, leading to millions of dollars in losses. Ocean acidification — a worldwide problem — is likely to blame.

Saunders said the company’s hatcheries, which produce scallop, oyster, prawn and sea urchin “seeds,” have also had trouble with increased deaths. In order to grow, the B.C. industry must double its seed production.

“Everyone is desperately trying to understand what’s going on and what can be done,” he said.

Other B.C. shellfish growers, like Denman Island oyster farmers Greg Wood and his wife Hollie, have found themselves “going year by year to see if we can make it.”

Wood blames oyster mortality rates on rising ocean temperatures, which cause more parasites and bacteria to grow.

“The problems are extreme,” he said. “We’re being attacked from all angles.”

The possibility of a coal mine a few kilometres from Baynes Sound, where 50 per cent of B.C.’s shellfish are grown, is a major concern.