Tell the EPA to Stop Allowing Bt Crops to Be Grown in the USA
Please contact the EPA today and tell the agency to end the registrations
for all Bt crops!
We have set up a web page with sample letters and ready to send emails to
make it as easy as possible for you to comment directly
http://www.organicconsumers.org/patent/btalertAug01.cfm
Ms. Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator
Public Information and Records Integrity Branch
Information Resources and Services Division (7502C)
Office of Pesticide Programs
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460.
The 30 day deadline for comments to the EPA ends Aug. 31, so please send in
your comments today.
___________________________________________________________
Stop Bt Crops
Despite public opposition from consumers and mounting criticism from
scientists, the Bush Administration's Environmental Protection Agency is
about to make the decision within the next two weeks to "re-register" or to
continue allowing untested and unlabeled genetically engineered Bt crops to
be grown on millions of acres across the USA. Genetically engineered Bt
corn, cotton, and potatoes have been spliced with bacterial DNA (Bacillus
thuringiensis) to produce proteins that are toxic to some insect pests and
butterflies. But as mounting evidence indicates Bt crops pose a serious
threat to the environment, public health, and organic agriculture and should
be taken off the market.
The Organic Consumers Association and two national coalitions of which we
are a member, Genetically Engineered Food Alert <www.gefoodalert.org> and
the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, urge you to send comments
to EPA before August 31, 2001.
To date, all commercialized genetically engineered insecticidal plants
produce a type of Bt toxin, one of a family of related molecules produced by
a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). To develop what are known as
Bt crops, a company clones the insecticidal gene from the bacterium and
inserts it into a crop plant. The plant then produces the toxin in most, if
not all, parts of the plant through all, or most, of a growing season.
For more details, see Sample Letter, below. Please email or mail comments
to EPA by August 31. You can put your comments right into the text of your
email message. If you choose to send your comments as an attachment to your
email message, make sure they are formatted in Word Perfect 6.1/8.0 or as an
ASCII file.
IMPORTANT!
You must note the reference: Docket Number OPP-00678B in your comments.
Put this docket number in the subject line of your message.
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Sample letter:
To: EPA Office of Pesticide Programs
Re: Docket Number OPP-00678B
Dear EPA Administrator Whitman:
I am writing to express my opposition to the EPA's re-registration of three
Bt crops--Bt corn, cotton, and potatoes. There should be a moratorium on
all Genetically Engineered (GE) foods until long-term studies show that
these crops are safe for human health and the environment. Continued
registration of these Bt crops ignores evidence of their potential for
serious harm.
Bt crops:
* Pose unacceptable risks to butterflies such as monarchs and the endangered
Karner Blue. Monarchs in states such as Minnesota and Iowa are exposed to
Bt corn pollen right at the time of their peak migration to Mexico.
Insufficient scientific studies have been carried out to show that Bt corn
doesn't pose a threat to endangered butterflies like the Karner Blue.
* Threaten human health with the potential to cause allergic reactions. One
Bt crop--StarLink corn--has already been withdrawn from the market because
of its allergenic potential. New research shows that Bt cotton also contains
a protein that affects the immune system. Consumers shouldn't be the guinea
pigs to see if Bt corn (in particular Bt sweet corn) is also allergenic.
* Contaminate organic crops as well as conventional non-GE fields. Organic
and non-GE corn farmers have lost valuable markets because of contamination.
GE corn and non-GE corn cannot coexist in the same region because of the
potential for corn pollen to travel in the wind. The EPA's analysis has not
considered the significant economic impacts of Bt corn on the organic and
non-GE farm sectors.
* Will inevitably lead to the loss of Bt for organic pest control. The
resistance management plans EPA is proposing are fatally flawed, because a
number of assumptions they rely on are invalid. For example, grower
compliance with Bt guidelines is not 100%. In addition, neither Bt cotton
nor Bt corn contain a high enough dose to be effective against cotton
bollworm/corn earworm.
* Pose other potential environmental consequences for agricultural and
natural ecosystems. Bt crops have potential effects on soil organisms and
natural enemies of crop pests. Pollen from Bt crops, in particular Bt corn
and Bt cotton, can flow to wild and weedy relatives, with potential
long-term ecological consequences. The most important of these wild
relatives in North America is teosinte, a close relative of corn. Growing
of Bt corn in the US poses a significant threat to this important reservoir
of corn genetic diversity.
The EPA should act to protect consumers and the environment by denying the
re-registration of these crops. Thank you.
Sincerely,
(your name)
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