Laurel Hopwood, Chair of the Club Genetic Engineering Action Team, calls this an atrocity. She is right.

Maybe Obama will fire Tom Vilsack as USDA Secretary and replace him with Andrew KImbrell. And maybe pigs will grow wings and fly.

--Tom

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Laurel Hopwood <[log in to unmask]>
To: CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sat, Dec 13, 2014 12:30 pm
Subject: Bad News: dicamba-resistant soy and corn



Many thanks to Center for Food Safety foralerting us to another atrocity.
Laurel Hopwood<[log in to unmask]>


http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/3655/usda-paves-the-way-for-planting-of-two-more-pesticide-promoting-genetically-engineered-ge-crops#
USDA paves the way for planting of two morepesticide promoting genetically engineered (GE) crops
Center for Food Safety
December 12, 2014


Center for Food Safety criticized the finalEnvironmental Impact Statement (EIS) released today by the U.S.Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monsanto's dicamba-resistantsoybeans and cotton. The EIS paves the way for introduction of newcrops genetically engineered to survive spraying with the herbicidedicamba. If approved, the anticipated widespread adoption of these GEcrops would lead to an over 10-fold increase in dicamba use inAmerican agriculture, from under 4 million lbs. at present to morethan 40 million lbs. per year.  Commercialization is alsocontingent on EPA approval of dicamba formulations for use on the newcrops, which is presently under consideration.

"Monsanto's genetically-engineered dicamba-resistant crops are yetanother example of how pesticide firms are taking agriculture back tothe dark days of heavy, indiscriminate use of hazardous pesticides,seriously endangering human health and the environment," said AndrewKimbrell, executive director of Center for Food Safety. "Should bothagencies approve this application, Center for Food Safety will pursueall available legal options to halt the introduction of this dangerouscrop."

First approved in the 1967, dicamba is a potent broadleaf herbicidethat in epidemiology studies has been linked to increased rates ofcancer in farmers and birth defects in their male offspring. Dicamba is moderately persistent and frequently detected in surfacewaters.  Farmers are particularly concerned by dicamba'spropensity to drift and damage neighboring crops.  Dicamba driftalso threatens flowering plants that provide nectar for pollinatorsand habitat for other species.  The large increase in dicambaapplications that would accompany the crops is expected todramatically escalate these adverse impacts.

Monsanto has presented dicamba resistant crops as a quick fix to theepidemic of glyphosate-resistant weeds generated by massive use ofglyphosate herbicide with the company's first-generation GE crops,known as Roundup Ready. However, USDA itself and many scientistspredict that the massively increased use of dicamba with these new GEcrops will rapidly foster development of still more intractable weedsresistant to both dicamba and glyphosate.

"Monsanto's dicamba-resistant crops are the latest fruits of apesticide industry strategy to increase sales of their toxicherbicides," said Bill Freese, Center for Food Safety science policyanalyst.  "Genetic engineering is making American agriculturemore chemical-dependent and less sustainable than ever before."

Freese notes that USDA's EIS follows hard on the heels of itsSeptember 2014 approval of GE 2,4-D-resistant corn and soybeans fromDow Chemical Company, and approvals of similar herbicide-resistantcrops developed by other pesticide companies.
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