Community | January 27, 2010 | 9 comments

Alert: help stop release of 260,000 GMO trees in the U.S.

source: http://globaljusticeecology.org/stopgetrees.php

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JanforGore
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

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!

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

and

Have your organization become a STOP GE Trees Campaign partner and endorse our goal of a global ban on GE trees!
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9 comments // Alert: help stop release of 260,000 GMO trees in the U.S.

  • BUILDUSMAXIMUS
    • 0
      BUILDUSMAXIMUS  
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    • Correct, thank you Willowguy. I do stand un-corrected as it is GE Capital (GE) and a very diverse portfolio. Driven strictly, and veiled in "green" was my point in fact.
      I appreciate completely all your valid points. They are very thorough and considerate to validating the concern (alarming concern) of what were embarking on here with the modification of forestry.
      http://www.alternet.org/environment/58477/

    • 2 years ago
  • Willowguy
    • 0
      Willowguy  

    • read the article, this article is about trees and whether or not to plant them. GE in this instance refers to genetic monkeytampering of the gene pool. Reset, see previous comment.

    • 2 years ago
  • BUILDUSMAXIMUS
    • 0
      BUILDUSMAXIMUS  

    • This concerning "driven for profit" agenda is the exact reason for the post ? Take a closer look .....before, not after you make an attempt to insult.

    • 2 years ago
  • Willowguy
    • 0
      Willowguy  

    • Do what? This article and comments are about GE trees, geneticaly engineered invasive trees and a plan to litter the US landscape with them. Don't exactly know what you're on about. Maybe you should go take your riddlin and try again.

    • 2 years ago
  • BUILDUSMAXIMUS
    • -1
      BUILDUSMAXIMUS  
    • Image

    • Lets look at History vs. comments this round......

      Job #1......Follow the Money.

      Job #2......Make informed decisions

      Job #3......Draw "only' informed conclusions.

      Job #4......Apply some deductive reasoning.

      We need the "NEXT GENERATION" Housing.

      WE need "Intelligence By Design"

      http://www.thedeal.com/corporatedealmaker/2009/02/ges_immelt_cats_owens_oracles....

      GE ON HEALTHCARE........

      4) Healthcare:

      Here, GE has started a division called Healthymagination. Tom Daschle, President Obama's first pick as Health Secretary, is now on the board of this division. Here's how the company is described.

      Healthymagination will be in charge of the national patient database, which is established in the stimulus plan. The reports show that GE with Intel Corp is investing $6 billion to improve and make healthcare affordable through Healthymagination.

      Here's how another media outlet described it.

      Like other health IT vendors, GE is planning a strong thrust into this field that will help it capture an optimal share of government spending on EHRs. Next year, GE plans to release a new EHR that will include clinical decision support features that it developed in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and Intermountain Healthcare. According to Immelt, broad adoption of this EHR would allow patients to receive the best care 90 percent of the time and could reduce healthcare costs up to 30 percent.

      EHR stands for Electronic Health Records...

      So, it may all be a coincidence but wherever there is an Obama program, GE is there to make a lot of money.

      GE and OBAMA..........(below)

      Obama helps strengthen General Electric-Putin ties
      By: Timothy P. Carney
      Examiner Columnist
      09/17/09 2:06 PM EDT

      (AP Photo/Alexei Nikolsky, Pool)
      Reuters reports an interesting nugget in the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to grant Vladimir Putin his wish and kill the Eastern European missile shield:
      Shortly after the pullback on the shield programme was announced, Russia's government said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would meet several U.S. executives on Friday from firms including General Electric, Morgan Stanley as well as TPG, one of the world's largest private equity firms
      General Electric may be the company with the closest ties to the Obama administration (if not, GE is second only to Goldman Sachs), and here we see the company benefiting from an abrupt foreign policy change made by President Obama. But GE isn't the only company benefiting. Reuters paints the broader picture:
      "U.S. companies have arguably lost out to some European companies in joint ventures, and better diplomacy will likely improve the chances for investors in the strategic sectors of the Russian economy," said Carlo Gallo, senior Russia analyst at London-based consultancy Control Risks.
      GE CEO Jeff Immelt sits on Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and GE owns MSNBC, the network famously friendly to Obama.

      Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obama-helps...

      http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obama-helps...

    • 2 years ago
  • Willowguy
    • 0
      Willowguy  
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    • I emailed an associate, an ecologist, about this trend and she sent me this response via email:
      Evil. Haven't they seen the effects of Eucalyptus in California, or
      Spain? It was planted as a (paper?) crop there where my friend
      chained himself to the mature oak trees to no avail, they were cut and
      eucalyptus was planted. Now, 20 years later, the eucalyptus have been
      removed and they are trying to bring back the native oak. 20 years of
      that ecosystem lost, plus all that money, plus the hundreds of years
      it will take to re-grow the forest that was cut- a massive and useless
      waste. It's time we start listening to people who chain themselves to
      trees. Eucalyptus are a plague, changing fire regimes and burning
      California. It's all so twisted and corrupt. From wiki: "Eucalyptus
      forests in California have been criticised because they compete with
      native plants and do not support native animals. Fire is also a
      problem. The 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm which destroyed almost 3,000
      homes and killed 25 people was partly fueled by large numbers of
      eucalypts close to the houses.[Audubon]"
      http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/1359/39103.pdf
      I can't imagine who would choose to bring that upon themselves. Hate
      eucalyptus. Great for koalas. Bad for anywhere else.
      http://www.portalforestal.com/informacion/noticias/903-el-plan-forestal-extremen...
      Why go backwards when we can go forward.

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  

    • This is an encroachment on our freedom, our environment, our health, and our biodiversity as well as the sustainability of other species that depend on our forests for life. How the USDA could ever approve such an evil profitmaking scheme just proves what we are really up against. They simply cannot be allowed to approve this.

      And yet once again, our media is silent as our forests will be should this be approved.

      Please sign the petition and send a letter during the comment period to speak out for the protection of our natural world from this unnatural invasion.

      And thanks to ras_menelik for posting this video. The one I posted is no longer available.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • 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 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 our 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

    • 2 years ago
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