CA

Huge: Monsanto Sues California to Keep Round Up Off Carcinogen List

Months after the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm declared the herbicide chemical glyphosate ‘probably carcinogenic,’ the state of California announced a move to place a cancer label on products containing the ingredient. That would include biotech giant Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide, Round Up. Outraged about the news, Monsanto is now suing California to keep Round Up off the state’s list of carcinogens.

Huge: Berkeley, CA Joins in Suing Monsanto for Toxic PCB Chemical Pollution

Through a unanimous vote by its City Council, the city of Berkeley, California has decided to hold Monsanto legally liable for polluting the land and water with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). [1]
The council’s 6-0 vote means that Berkeley is joining Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Spokane, Washington, in filing suits against Monsanto, the agricultural biotech company based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Largest Native American Tribe in California Bans GMOs

The Yurok Tribe, the largest Native American tribe in California, will join other peoples such as those from Russia, Italy, and Germany in saying NO to genetically modified organisms. The tribe has just announced that it is implementing a ban on all GM crops and GM animals. [1]
A committee meant to review the Yurok Tribe Genetically Engineered Organism (GEO) Ordinance, which was first allowed public comment, has now been enacted this December, 2015.

California Supreme Court Allows Lawsuits Over Falsely Labeled Organics

In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of California has made it clear that consumers have a right to file lawsuits if a company claims their products are organic, but do so falsely. The decision overturned a lower courts’ ruling that consumers could not file lawsuits of this nature based on federal law which “supersede a state’s legislation.”

New Desalination Plant Creates 50 Million Gallons of Drinkable Water Daily

California state reservoir levels have been declared dangerously low, with residents being told to cut back their water usage drastically. There was concern that even aquifers would be milked dry, but this water crisis might soon be over due to a $1 billion dollar water desalination plant that was in the works for 20 years.

California’s Water Crisis Forces Court to Rescind $4.6 Million Water Extraction Fee Refund

It looks as if Nestle’s illegal extraction of water from the San Bernardino National Forest in California isn’t the only water battle raging in the face of California’s water crisis. A Northern California water district legally charged a smaller competitor millions in extraction fees for drawing water from wells on its own property, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.