Fwd: [gmfreeindia] Fwd: ETC Group: Take Action! Help Stop the Planting of 260, 000 GE Trees in the U.S.

[David Amalanadane]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jacob Nellithanam <farmer...@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 17, 2009 9:31 PM
Subject: [gmfreeindia] Fwd: ETC Group: Take Action! Help Stop the Planting of 260, 000 GE  Trees in the U.S.
To: gmfre...@googlegroups.com


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ETC Group <etcg...@lists.etcgroup.org>
Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 7:43 PM
Subject: ETC Group: Take Action! Help Stop the Planting of 260, 000 GE
Trees in the U.S.
To: etcg...@lists.etcgroup.org



**The following message is from the STOP GE Trees Campaign. ETC Group
is a member of the Campaign's International Committee. If you have
already received this Take Action Alert from other sources, please
consider it a reminder to submit comments to the US Department of
Agriculture (info below), if you haven't already done so.  The
deadline is July 6, 2009.**

Please Forward Widely!
Dangerous Genetically Engineered (GE) Eucalyptus Trees on Fast-Track
to Large-Scale Release in the U.S.
ACTION NEEDED BY 6 JULY!  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, GE tree giant ArborGen is
petitioning the U.S. government to be allowed to plant an estimated
260,000 flowering GE eucalyptus trees [1] across seven southern U.S.
states on 330 acres 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 already requested permission
for the commercial planting of GE cold tolerant eucalyptus clones
across the U.S. South.   The government is expected to issue their
decision on this later this year.
Government approval of GE eucalyptus trees will set a dangerous
precedent to allow other experimental GE forest trees, including
poplar and pine, 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 stop genetic contamination of native forests is to ban
the commercial release of GE trees before it is too late.
TAKE ACTION!
Tell the USDA that GE cold-tolerant eucalyptus plantations pose an
unprecedented threat to U.S. forests and wildlife.   Tell them to
reject ArborGen's request to plant more than a quarter of a million
dangerous alien GE trees on nearly 30 sites 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
and
Have your organization become a STOP GE Trees Campaign partner and
endorse our goal of a global ban on GE trees!  For more information
about the STOP GE Trees Campaign, click here
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 their 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 fungus
Cryptococcus 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
Download the Global Justice Ecology Project's 10-page report on the
dangers of GE trees and wood-based agrofuels
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




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