permaculture

[Permaculture Cooperative <permaculturecoop@gmail.com>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Global Justice Ecology Project <info@globaljusticeecology.org>
Date: Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 4:08 AM
Subject: Urgent Action Alert! Stop Release of 260,000 GMO Trees in U.S.
To: permaculturecoop@gmail.com


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Update: The USDA has reopened the comment period for their Environmental
Assessment of ArborGen's proposal to plant 260,000 genetically engineered
eucalyptus trees across the Southern U.S.  Comments needed by 18 February to
oppose this dangerous and destructive plan.   They plan to use these trees
for bioenergy schemes under the false claim that they will help stop global
warming.

Go to: 
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/975162590<http://e2ma.net/go/6586041649/208091655/211220717/32556/goto:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/975162590>to
sign on to the public comment letter.  More information below:
*
*
Release of Dangerous Genetically Engineered (GE) Eucalyptus Trees Threatens
U.S. Forests/ Communities.

*ACTION NEEDED BY 18 February!  Tell the USDA NO WAY to ArborGen's
Eucalyptus Frankentrees*

In an unprecedented move toward commercial large-scale release of GE forest
trees in the United States, ArborGen is petitioning the U.S. government for
permission to plant an estimated* 260,000 flowering GE eucalyptus trees [1]
across seven southern U.S. states* in so-called "field trials."[2]

The mass-planting of* 260,000 flowering GE eucalyptus trees* is a major step
toward the unregulated development of large-scale GE eucalyptus plantations
in the U.S.   ArborGen has also requested permission to develop large-scale
commercial plantations of GE cold tolerant eucalyptus across the U.S. South
which the USDA has not yet ruled on.

 Government approval of GE eucalyptus trees will set a dangerous precedent
to allow the release of other experimental GE forest trees, including
poplars and pines,* that would inevitably and irreversibly contaminate
native trees with destructive GE traits, devastating forest ecosystems and
wildlife.*  Once GE trees escape, there is no way to call them back.

 The only way to prevent the genetic contamination of forests is to ban the
commercial release of GE trees before it is too late.

*TAKE 
ACTION!*<http://e2ma.net/go/6586041649/208091655/211220718/32556/goto:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/975162590>
Tell the USDA that* GE cold-tolerant eucalyptus plantations pose an
unprecedented threat to U.S. forests*, wildlife and communities.   Tell them
to reject ArborGen's request to plant more than a quarter of a million
dangerous invasive GE trees across the Southern U.S.  *Since these field
trials are a concrete step toward unregulated commercial growing of
dangerous GE eucalyptus, they must be rejected.*
*
*
*Sign on to the STOP GE Trees Campaign's Comments to the U.S.
government*<http://e2ma.net/go/6586041649/208091655/211220719/32556/goto:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/975162590>

and

*Have your organization* * become a STOP GE Trees Campaign
partner*<info@globaljusticeecology.org?subject=STOP%20GE%20Trees%20Campaign%20Endorsement>
* and endorse our goal of a global ban on GE trees!*  For more information
about the STOP GE Trees Campaign, click
here<http://e2ma.net/go/6586041649/208091655/211220720/32556/goto:http://www.nogetrees.org/>

*Background:*
According to ArborGen, eucalyptus is a "fast-growing hardwood tree that is a
favorite of the international forest products industry"[3]  Globally,
forests in tropical and subtropical regions have been decimated for the
development of eucalyptus plantations, with devastating results for
communities and biodiversity.  ArborGen now wants to spread this disaster to
new regions with this GE cold-tolerant eucalyptus.
*
*
Some of the impacts caused by eucalyptus plantations that now threaten the
U.S. include:
*
*
** Widespread destruction of native forests:* Australian* Eucalyptus* were
introduced to California in the 1850s and these invasive aliens now grow
throughout the state; more than 200 species have been introduced into the
U.S.  The cold-tolerance trait will allow the disaster of eucalyptus
plantations to be expanded into regions that are too cold for conventional
eucalyptus--including the U.S. South.

 ** Uncontrollable wildfires:* Raging wildfires in Australia this year, made
worse by drought, traveled over 60 miles an hour, devastating wildlife and
killing 173 people.  The1991 Oakland, CA firestorm, exacerbated by
eucalyptus, cost $1.5 billion in damages.
*
*
** Loss of fresh water:* Eucalyptus trees are fast-growing "water-suckers."
They require tremendous amounts of water, threatening to worsen the drought
already being experienced in areas of the Southern United States.

 ** Vast clearcutting of biodiverse forests* to grow monoculture plantations
of GE* Eucalyptus* clones;

** Silent forests:* Wildlife that cannot use the* Eucalyptus* for habitat
nor food will be lost.  Endangered species will be threatened.

** Contamination of soils and groundwater* with toxic pesticides used on the
plantations, often aerially sprayed;

** Worsening of climate change* through the destruction of carbon-rich
native forests for carbon-poor plantations.

 ** Eucalyptus** is a known host for the deadly pathogenic
fungusCryptococcus Gattii
.* Originally a tropical fungus, it was recently found around Pacific
Northwest Eucalyptus groves, and can kill both humans and wildlife.
*
*
*SUBMIT COMMENTS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT OPPOSING GE EUCALYPTUS
PLANTATIONS*<http://e2ma.net/go/6586041649/208091655/211220721/32556/goto:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/975162590>

Download our 10 page report on the dangers of GE trees and wood-based
agrofuels<http://e2ma.net/go/6586041649/208091655/211220722/32556/goto:http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/stopgetrees_about.php?ID=117>

NOTES:
[1] These GE eucalyptus, a hybrid of *Eucalyptus grandis* X*Eucalyptus 
urophylla
*, are engineered to tolerate colder temperatuves, produce less of the
structural polymer lignin, and digest some of their own RNA in the hope of
reducing fertility (a Terminator-type genetic technology).  The permits, if
granted, would also allow the GE trees to flower. Eucalyptus thrives
in tropical to sub-tropical conditions, but ArborGen's cold-tolerant
Eucalyptus would allow growth in the Southern United States, which
experience occasional winter freezes. The states targeted for field trials
are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and
Texas. * Note:* in 2007 ArborGen was given permission to allow 1.1 acres of
GE eucalyptus to flower.  This was expanded to 7.6 acres with no public
input.  This means ArborGen could receive permission to expand these 330
acres of field trials after the fact.

[2] The number 260,000 is based on the number of trees ArborGen reported to
the USDA, which was recorded in the USDA's Environmental Assessment.

[3] See 
www.arborgen.com/eucalyptus2.php<http://e2ma.net/go/6586041649/208091655/211220723/32556/goto:http://www.arborgen.com/eucalyptus2.php>





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