We no longer have elections. We now have auctions.
Four solid reasons why we no longer have a Democracy in the United
States, i.e. 4 things that do not take place in Democracies:
1. Congressional Districts drawn in 20 red states so that U.S. House
members select the voters they wish to represent. This should be the
reverse.
2. Voter suppression in many red states. Remember 30-years ago or
so, when there was a lot of discussion about getting MORE citizens to
vote?
3. Supreme Court members approve unlimited, and secret, contribution
to those being auctioned. What could be more perverse?
4. House of Representatives do absolutely nothing of value to the
nation for years, and destroy the functionality of Democracy. But
they will probably be rewarded at the auction.
Of course one could go on and on about income inequality, destruction
of scientifically valid environmental regulations, tax breaks for the
1 percenters, etc., etc.
But what organizations and what individuals will take the big steps
necessary to regain what the United States has lost??????
Ric
<")
( \
/ |``
Ric Zarwell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Home/Office: 563-538-4991
Mobile: 563-419-4991
GIVE CONSERVATION WINGS
SHOW UP.... SPEAK UP.... ANTE UP....
FOR BIRDS, FOR NATURAL HABITATS, FOR ALL BIODIVERSITY
On Nov 2, 2014, at 11:11 AM, Phyllis Mains wrote:
Well the biggest job we had was to get an environmental friendly
senator to replace Sen. Harkin. If we lose we can expect worse than
just an anti environmental House. It matters who we ask to support
our issues. I did what I could. Phyllis
On Sun, 2 Nov 2014 08:36:25 -0500 Wallace Taylor <[log in to unmask]
> writes:
No Congressman from Iowa signed on, naturally.
Wally Taylor
-----Original Message-----
From: l <[log in to unmask]>
To: IOWA-TOPICS <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sat, Nov 1, 2014 8:20 pm
Subject: Fwd: GMW: 49 Members of US Congress protested against 2,4-D
crops approval
Crops resistant to 2,4-D would add a new dark chapter to the chemical-
drenched history of US agriculture.
Tom Mathews
From: GMWatch <[log in to unmask]>
To: Thomas <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sat, Nov 1, 2014 2:16 pm
Subject: GMW: 49 Members of US Congress protested against 2,4-D crops
approval
Forward to a friend
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49 Members of US Congress protested against 2,4-D crops approval
Deregulating 2,4-D crops will "spur the evolution of 2,4-D resistant
weeds and cause a three- to seven-fold increase in 2,4-D use"
Earlier this year, 49 Members of the US Congress wrote a strongly-
worded letter to the US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking
him not to allow the approval of Enlist Duo 2,4-D/glyphosate mix
herbicide and the approval of GM crops engineered to withstand the
herbicides.
The US agencies ignored these concerns and allowed commercialisation
of all these products.
You can read an article about this letter and the 2,4-D related issues
it raises here:
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Safety/chemical/highly_toxic_compound_superweed-killers_1031140950.html
The letter can be read below.
---
Letter from 49 Members of Congress to US Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack
July 31, 2014
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8gyxHH4EWoBZ2ItOWtQOXRyMjQ/view?pli=1
[To:] The Honorable Thomas J. Vilsack
Secretary, Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
[To:] The Honorable Gina McCarthy
Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Secretary Vilsack and Administrator McCarthy,
We write to you to express our grave concerns regarding your
agencies’ proposed decisions to register the Enlist Duo herbicide as
well as deregulate new varieties of genetically engineered (GE) crops
engineered to withstand exposure to the active ingredients glyphosate
and 2,4-D. We believe that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have failed to thoroughly
analyze and address the risks of Enlist Duo and the multiple adverse
human health, environmental, agronomic, and socioeconomic harms that
approval of 2,4-D crops will likely cause.
We currently stand at an agricultural crossroads. The first generation
of “Roundup Ready” GE crops increased herbicide use by 527 million
pounds between 1996 and 2011, triggering an epidemic of glyphosate-
resistant “superweeds” which now infest over 61 million acres
across 36 states. 2,4-D crops are among the “next-generation” of GE
crops engineered to withstand applications of older, more toxic
herbicides. While they are often touted as a solution to herbicide-
resistant weeds, even the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) recognizes in its draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) that deregulating 2,4-D crops will spur the further evolution
of 2,4-D resistant weeds and cause a three to seven fold increase in
2,4-D use.
The scientific community has sounded alarms about exposure to 2,4-D
for decades. 2,4-D has been linked to multiple adverse health effects
including cancer (especially non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma), decreased sperm
count, liver disease and Parkinson’s disease. Further, exposure has
also been shown to negatively impact the hormonal, reproductive,
neurological and immune systems. In addition, EPA has reported that
2,4-D is the seventh largest source of dioxins in the United States.
Dioxins are extremely toxic chemicals, and their bioaccumulation in
the food chain may potentially lead to dangerous levels of exposure.
We are also concerned that EPA failed to thoroughly examine all of the
significant health and environmental risks of 2,4-D including that of
inhalation and aggregate exposure; the risks of 2,4-D exposure to
threatened and endangered species; and the risks posed by shifts in
use patterns of 2,4-D as a result of the GE cropping systems. Most
alarming is EPA’s failure to apply the additional safety factor of
10x, as mandated under the Food Quality Protection Act, to protect
children, who are especially susceptible to harm from pesticide
exposure. The 10-fold safety factor is required by law to safeguard
against the potential health risks for young children and infants that
would result from the widespread use of 2,4-D on GE crops.
In deciding to prepare a DEIS before proceeding, USDA APHIS recognized
that its proposed approval of Dow’s 2,4-D crops will likely cause
significant environmental, agronomic and socioeconomic harms.
Despite acknowledging these significant harms, in the DEIS, APHIS
alleges it “must” approve the proposed crops pursuant to the Plant
Protection Act (PPA), because they do not create “plant pest” harms.
However in so doing APHIS has narrowly constrained its interpretation
of its regulation. This overly narrow and arbitrary interpretation of
APHIS’s authority is contrary to common sense and good governance
principles, as well as contradicts prior acknowledgments by APHIS that
its GE crop review is “considerably broader” than its review of
“traditional” plant pests. Rather, APHIS has authority over broadly
defined harms to agriculture and the environment that it must apply to
Dow’s crops and their acknowledged adverse impacts.
Surveys of state pesticide regulators establish that 2,4-D drift is
already responsible for more episodes of crop damage than any other
pesticide. Vastly increased use with approval of 2,4-D crops would
correspondingly increase crop damage, putting farmers of sensitive
crops at grave risk. Wild plants, waterways and wildlife – including
pollinator – habitat would also be threatened. 2,4-D is a quite
potent plant-killer, even at levels typical of drift. EPA tests show
that 2,4-D is over 400 times more toxic to emerging seedlings and 12
times more toxic to growing plants than glyphosate.
While APHIS admits that transgenic contamination because of its
proposed action is possible, even likely, it refuses to analyze it. We
believe that contamination will occur and it
will result in significant economic harm to conventional, organic and
even some growers of the first generation of glyphosate-resistant GE
crops. Yet, the agency wrongly puts the entire burden on non-2,4-D
crop farmers to attempt to avoid contamination.
We request that USDA and EPA fully review the facts, law, and science
in this case. As the over 400,000 public comments indicate, the risks
of approving 2,4-D crops are simply too great and benefits too few to
jeopardize public health, the environment and the long-term
sustainability of our food supply. We therefore request EPA not
register Enlist Duo for use on 2,4-D crops and USDA maintain the
regulated status for 2,4-D resistant crops.
Sincerely…
__________________________________________________________
Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
Profiles: http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/GM_Watch:_Portal
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMWatch
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/GMWatch/276951472985?ref=nf
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