If you have yet to connect the dots between genetic engineering and threats 
 to the environment, this should help. If you take the time to read 
carefully  only one article this year, this should be that article.--Tom
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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.

<http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/petition.php>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.

<http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/petition.php>Sign on  to the STOP
GE Trees Campaign's Comments to the U.S.  government

and

Have your  organization
<mailto:[log in to unmask]
0Endorsement>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,
<http://www.nogetrees.org>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.

<http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/petition.php>SUBMIT  COMMENTS TO
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT OPPOSING GE EUCALYPTUS  PLANTATIONS

<http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/stopgetrees_about.php?ID=117>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

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