Natural vanilla flavor comes from a vanilla bean, right? Maybe not for long -- a new genetically engineered ingredient, straight out of a petri dish, is about to enter our favorite foods, from ice cream to birthday cake. Synbio vanilla -- produced by a form of extreme genetic engineering called “synthetic biology” -- is stranger than science fiction, but regulators will still let food companies call it "natural". So we're asking major ice cream companies like Haagen Dazs, Dreyer’s, Baskin Robbins and others not to use this experimental genetically engineered vanilla in their products. The truth is, this new vanilla doesn’t even come from a plant. Instead, it is made in labs using synthetic DNA and genetically engineered yeast that exists nowhere in nature. What’s worse, the FDA hasn’t even bothered to test this laboratory creation as a new product. Instead the agency will likely approve it as “Generally Regarded as Safe”. As the first major use of synthetic biology in our food, synbio vanilla could set a dangerous precedent and open the floodgates to allow more synthetic, genetically engineered ingredients labeled as “natural”. And if all of this wasn’t bad enough, this new synbio vanilla could speed rainforest destruction, and harm sustainable farmers and poor communities that rely on rainforest-raised vanilla beans to survive. Ice cream companies are one of the biggest purchasers of vanilla flavoring and we need your help to send them a strong message: don't use this unnatural “synbio vanilla” in your ice cream.

Natural vanilla flavor comes from a vanilla bean, right? Maybe not for long -- a new genetically engineered ingredient, straight out of a petri dish, is about to enter our favorite foods, from ice cream to birthday cake. Synbio vanilla -- produced by a form of extreme genetic engineering called “synthetic biology” -- is stranger than science fiction, but regulators will still let food companies call it "natural". So we're asking major ice cream companies like Haagen Dazs, Dreyer’s, Baskin Robbins and others not to use this experimental genetically engineered vanilla in their products. The truth is, this new vanilla doesn’t even come from a plant. Instead, it is made in labs using synthetic DNA and genetically engineered yeast that exists nowhere in nature. What’s worse, the FDA hasn’t even bothered to test this laboratory creation as a new product. Instead the agency will likely approve it as “Generally Regarded as Safe”. As the first major use of synthetic biology in our food, synbio vanilla could set a dangerous precedent and open the floodgates to allow more synthetic, genetically engineered ingredients labeled as “natural”. And if all of this wasn’t bad enough, this new synbio vanilla could speed rainforest destruction, and harm sustainable farmers and poor communities that rely on rainforest-raised vanilla beans to survive. Ice cream companies are one of the biggest purchasers of vanilla flavoring and we need your help to send them a strong message: don't use this unnatural “synbio vanilla” in your ice cream.

Natural vanilla flavor comes from a vanilla bean, right? Maybe not for long -- a new genetically engineered ingredient, straight out of a petri dish, is about to enter our favorite foods, from ice cream to birthday cake. Synbio vanilla -- produced by a form of extreme genetic engineering called “synthetic biology” -- is stranger than science fiction, but regulators will still let food companies call it "natural". So we're asking major ice cream companies like Haagen Dazs, Dreyer’s, Baskin Robbins and others not to use this experimental genetically engineered vanilla in their products. The truth is, this new vanilla doesn’t even come from a plant. Instead, it is made in labs using synthetic DNA and genetically engineered yeast that exists nowhere in nature. What’s worse, the FDA hasn’t even bothered to test this laboratory creation as a new product. Instead the agency will likely approve it as “Generally Regarded as Safe”. As the first major use of synthetic biology in our food, synbio vanilla could set a dangerous precedent and open the floodgates to allow more synthetic, genetically engineered ingredients labeled as “natural”. And if all of this wasn’t bad enough, this new synbio vanilla could speed rainforest destruction, and harm sustainable farmers and poor communities that rely on rainforest-raised vanilla beans to survive. Ice cream companies are one of the biggest purchasers of vanilla flavoring and we need your help to send them a strong message: don't use this unnatural “synbio vanilla” in your ice cream.

Natural vanilla flavor comes from a vanilla bean, right? Maybe not for long -- a new genetically engineered ingredient, straight out of a petri dish, is about to enter our favorite foods, from ice cream to birthday cake. Synbio vanilla -- produced by a form of extreme genetic engineering called “synthetic biology” -- is stranger than science fiction, but regulators will still let food companies call it "natural". So we're asking major ice cream companies like Haagen Dazs, Dreyer’s, Baskin Robbins and others not to use this experimental genetically engineered vanilla in their products. The truth is, this new vanilla doesn’t even come from a plant. Instead, it is made in labs using synthetic DNA and genetically engineered yeast that exists nowhere in nature. What’s worse, the FDA hasn’t even bothered to test this laboratory creation as a new product. Instead the agency will likely approve it as “Generally Regarded as Safe”. As the first major use of synthetic biology in our food, synbio vanilla could set a dangerous precedent and open the floodgates to allow more synthetic, genetically engineered ingredients labeled as “natural”. And if all of this wasn’t bad enough, this new synbio vanilla could speed rainforest destruction, and harm sustainable farmers and poor communities that rely on rainforest-raised vanilla beans to survive. Ice cream companies are one of the biggest purchasers of vanilla flavoring and we need your help to send them a strong message: don't use this unnatural “synbio vanilla” in your ice cream.

Because we need to get the Hell, out of there!

Dropping bombs is not the answer to the crisis in Syria. There are other, better means to show Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the world that chemical weapons are intolerable, such as the latest international proposal for Assad to surrender his chemical weapons. Bombing Syria could increase the refugee crisis, further destabilize the region, and commit the U.S. to open-ended conflict. Even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, told Congress that attacking Syria would "escalate and potentially further commit the United States to the conflict."

Dropping bombs is not the answer to the crisis in Syria. There are other, better means to show Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the world that chemical weapons are intolerable, such as the latest international proposal for Assad to surrender his chemical weapons. Bombing Syria could increase the refugee crisis, further destabilize the region, and commit the U.S. to open-ended conflict. Even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, told Congress that attacking Syria would "escalate and potentially further commit the United States to the conflict."

Dropping bombs is not the answer to the crisis in Syria. There are other, better means to show Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the world that chemical weapons are intolerable, such as the latest international proposal for Assad to surrender his chemical weapons. Bombing Syria could increase the refugee crisis, further destabilize the region, and commit the U.S. to open-ended conflict. Even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, told Congress that attacking Syria would "escalate and potentially further commit the United States to the conflict."

Dropping bombs is not the answer to the crisis in Syria. There are other, better means to show Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the world that chemical weapons are intolerable, such as the latest international proposal for Assad to surrender his chemical weapons. Bombing Syria could increase the refugee crisis, further destabilize the region, and commit the U.S. to open-ended conflict. Even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, told Congress that attacking Syria would "escalate and potentially further commit the United States to the conflict."

Dropping bombs is not the answer to the crisis in Syria. There are other, better means to show Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the world that chemical weapons are intolerable, such as the latest international proposal for Assad to surrender his chemical weapons. Bombing Syria could increase the refugee crisis, further destabilize the region, and commit the U.S. to open-ended conflict. Even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, told Congress that attacking Syria would "escalate and potentially further commit the United States to the conflict."

Dropping bombs is not the answer to the crisis in Syria. There are other, better means to show Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the world that chemical weapons are intolerable, such as the latest international proposal for Assad to surrender his chemical weapons. Bombing Syria could increase the refugee crisis, further destabilize the region, and commit the U.S. to open-ended conflict. Even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, told Congress that attacking Syria would "escalate and potentially further commit the United States to the conflict."

On Friday, dangerous, last-minute amendments were attached to Senator Fran Pavley's fracking bill, SB 4. With these added amendments. The amendments give state regulators authority to exempt fracking from California's strongest and most important environmental law: the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).