Montville ban threatens state's economic development plan

Activists, desperate for a win after a series of setbacks in their drive to rid Maine of biotech-enhanced crops, have found a new venue — town meetings. At town meeting (March 29), the residents of Montville voted overwhelmingly to ban the planting of genetically engineered plants within the town. The selection of town meetings to carry on the fight is no accident. The message is easily controlled. Outsiders, who might have some knowledge are unwelcome at town meetings. Debate is limited. And the populist appeals of the anti-biotechnology crowd, built on a distrust of corporations and science, resonate with the residents of Maine’s small towns, hard hit by the state’s flagging economy.

In the grand scheme of things, the action in Montville won’t amount to much. The ordinance clearly violates Maine’s right to farm law which plainly states “A method of operation used by a farm or farm operation located in an area where agricultural activities are permitted may not be considered a violation of a municipal ordinance if the method of operation constitutes a best management practice as determined by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources.” (17 M.R.S.A., 2805) The Department of Agriculture, which considers biotech crops to be part of best management practices, has said it will ask the Attorney General for an opinion on Montville’s ordinance. The Maine Farm Bureau, which in the past has aggressively defended farmers’ rights to farm as they see fit, will undoubtedly join the fight. Other Maine farm organizations can be expected to follow suit.

The problem for Maine officials, though, is this isn’t a fight over what may or may not be grown in Montville. It’s a battle over the public’s acceptance of science in shaping the future of agriculture. Many Mainers have bought into the organic farming mystique, which is rooted in the unscientific premise that nitrogen from cow manure is better for plants than nitrogen from the air, or that chemical pesticides synthesized by plants are safer than chemical pesticides synthesized by man. Framing the contest as one between organic farming and biotech farming neatly sidesteps the scientific debate. In fact, the path to victory for opponents of biotech lies in an outright rejection of science. As Diana George Chapin, who led the Montville ban effort wrote, “While many answers to securing our future lie in the investigations and developments of science, I believe GMOs do not improve the quality of our lives.” (Oddly enough, Chapin has a master’s degree in soil and environmental science.)

The rejection of science in the debate over biotech crops should be setting off alarm bells in the statehouse and at campuses across the state. Maine has hitched its economic future to the triumph of science. State officials have upped spending on research and development and repeatedly urged voters to pass R&D bond issues. All of this is based on solid research showing higher incomes in states that spend heavily on scientific research. A rejection of science on the local level threatens the very heart of the state’s economic development plan.

State officials, from the governor’s office to the chancellor’s office in Orono, are betting that setbacks like the one in Montville won’t chill the voters ardor for R&D spending. They may be right. But Maine’s spending on R&D is not based on the premise that the state can spend its way to prosperity. It is based on the expectation that private investment will flow into the state to leverage state spending. And venture investors, who invested over $9 billion last year in life science companies, do pay attention to little things like Montville. Who wants to risk their money in a state that rejects the very thing they are investing in? No matter how many R&D bonds the voters approve, without private investment the state’s plan will fail.

And private investors will be hearing about Montville soon, if they haven’t already. What Maine’s public officials have failed to grasp is that the real goal of the anti-biotechnology activists in Maine is PUBLICITY. Who cares what is or isn’t grown in a Maine town with a population of 1,000. But when a Maine town becomes the “First town outside of CA to pass moratorium on GMOs,” as the activists spun it, the world will take note. As Rob Fish, the founder of GE Free Maine (since renamed Food for Maine’s Future) crowed in an e-mail to me, “Did you see the national media on Montville?”

What should Maine officials do? First, they should end their silence on this issue. For years, activists have disparaged biotechnology and the farmers who use it without a peep from elected officials or scientists in the state who know better. Then, Maine officials, starting with the Governor, should role up their sleeves and start defending biotechnology. Here’s a to do list:

• 1. The governor’s science advisor should issue a statement denouncing the action in Montville as being unscientific and contrary to the best interests of Maine farmers and the state.
• 2. The governor should convene a blue ribbon panel to make recommendations on how best to integrate biotechnology into the state’s economy.
• 3. The University of Maine should update its biotechnology White Paper series issued between April and December 1999.
• 4. The University of Maine should convene a panel of experts on agricultural biotechnology and host a series of public debates at locations around the state.
• 5. Then the university should publish and distribute the proceedings of the expert panel.
• 6. Individual scientists around the state, in both the public and private sectors, should engage in the public debate through public lectures, panel discussions and in newspaper columns and letters to the editor.

If leaders around the state undertake even a portion of the steps outlined above, the recent action in Montville will fade into obscurity as Maine claims its rightful place in the 21st century. If state officials and scientists remain silent, the residents of Montville will get their wish as the state slips quietly back into the 19th century.