Major victory!!

To clarify the last paragraph: it is the Enlist Duo herbicide, not the GMO crops, that will not be approved. But without the herbicide, I see no reason to market the seeds engineered to resist it.

Tom Mathews

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Laurel Hopwood <[log in to unmask]>
To: CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wed, Nov 25, 2015 11:47 am
Subject: HUGE NEWS: Enlist Duo approval REVOKED

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO RESPONDED TO ACTION ALERTS POSTED ON THIS FORUM 
AND WHO CONTRIBUTED FINANCIALLY TO THE FANTASTIC ATTORNEYS AT THE CENTER 
FOR FOOD SAFETY.
WE ARE MAKING CHANGES !!!!
Laurel Hopwood, Chair, Sierra Club Genetic Engineering Action Team
Email: [log in to unmask]


For Immediate Release, November 25, 2015

Contact:     Paul Achitoff, Earthjustice, (808) 599-2436
Andrew Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety, (703) 927-2826
Lori Ann Burd, Center for Biological Diversity, (847) 567-4052
Paul Towers, Pesticide Action Network, (916) 216-1082
EPA Revokes Approval of Dow's 'Enlist Duo' Herbicide Because of High 
Toxicity

Harmful Pesticide Banned on Genetically Engineered Crops

(EDITED)

  In response to litigation by conservation groups, the EPA announced it 
will revoke approval of the herbicide “Enlist Duo” after  determining 
that its combination of chemicals is likely significantly more harmful 
than initially believed. Approved by the agency just over a year ago, 
Enlist Duo is a toxic combination of glyphosate and 2,4-D that Dow 
AgroSciences created for use on the next generation of genetically 
engineered crops that are designed to withstand being drenched with this 
potent herbicide cocktail.

The action resolves a year-long legal challenge filed by a coalition of 
conservation groups seeking to rescind the approval of the dangerous 
herbicide blend. The EPA had approved use of Enlist Duo in Illinois, 
Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Kansas, 
Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and 
North Dakota, and had intended to approve it in additional areas in the 
near future.

The reversal came after the EPA’s failure to consider the impacts of 
Enlist Duo on threatened and endangered plants and animals protected 
under the Endangered Species Act was challenged by Earthjustice and 
Center for Food Safety, on behalf of Center for Food Safety, Beyond 
Pesticides, the Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Working 
Group, the National Family Farm Coalition and Pesticide Action Network 
North America. The Endangered Species Act requires that every federal 
agency consider the impacts of its actions on our nation’s most 
imperiled plants and animals and seek input from the expert wildlife 
agencies before plunging ahead, which the EPA had refused to do.

“With this action, EPA confirms the toxic nature of this lethal cocktail 
of chemicals, and has stepped back from the brink,” said Earthjustice 
Managing Attorney Paul Achitoff. “Glyphosate is a probable carcinogen 
and is wiping out the monarch butterfly, 2,4-D also causes serious human 
health effects, and the combination also threatens endangered wildlife. 
This must not, and will not, be how we grow our food.”

“The decision by EPA to withdraw the illegally approved Enlist Duo crops 
is a huge victory for the environment and the future of our food,” said 
George Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety's senior attorney.

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