Altered Crops

Your portrayal of the current protests surrounding genetically engineered crops is timely in more than one way (“Protest May Mow Down Trend to Alter Crops,” Oct. 5). As a supporter of environmental protection efforts for much of my life, I would hate to be remembered as part of the generation that stalled the development of transgenic technology. The scientifically sound application of this technology offers us a remedy within reach to such sources of environmental degradation as loss of undeveloped land to farming low-yield crops and excessive use of long-residual, broad-spectrum insecticides to battle moth pests of crops worldwide. The potential future applications of this technology offer some real hope for mitigating several of our most important environmental issues.

As we enter the next century it will become important to ask: Just who really is protecting the environment? In this case it’s certainly not Greenpeace and its public campaign to oppose this technology.

J. NICHOLAS NISSON

Tustin