Earthjustice was founded in 1971 as the Sierra club Legal Defense Fund, and has always been fully independent of Sierra Club. The name change occurred in 1997. (source: Wikipedia) --Tom -----Original Message----- From: Earthjustice <[log in to unmask]> To: thmathews <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Fri, Apr 4, 2014 8:28 pm Subject: FORWARD THIS: Reject the Next Generation of GMO Crops and Pesticides Dear Thomas, Thank you for taking action to reject the next generation of GMO crops and pesticides! We need more to keep up the pressure to make sure that the Obama administration gets the message. Will you forward the email below to five of your friends? TAKE ACTION! Reject the Next Generation of GMO Crops and Pesticides The U.S. Department of Agriculture could allow new GMO crops—resistant to an even stronger and more toxic herbicide—on the market without ANY government oversight. Take Action Today! Biotech corn will damage the environment and the people who grow it. The USDA is poised to allow farmers to plant 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) resistant corn and soy. This would allow farmers to plant these crops wherever they please without any government oversight, disregarding the harms they will cause. The toxic herbicide, 2,4-D, is associated with serious health impacts. New GMO crops have been created to resist 2,4-D so farmers could spray the herbicide without killing their corn and soy. But when the same herbicide is sprayed on a field repeatedly, a few naturally resistant weeds survive, reproduce and eventually take over. Because farmers did this with Monsanto’s Roundup-resistant crops, fields across the U.S. are now choked with Roundup-resistant weeds. Industry’s solution is to genetically engineer crops to resist a different, more toxic herbicide, to kill those resistant weeds but not the crops. But make no mistake, these GMO crops will, like their predecessors, lead to much greater use of even more dangerous chemicals, the development of more herbicide-resistant weeds, destruction and genetic contamination of neighboring crops, and severe economic impacts on other farmers. The USDA projects approval of these crops will result in an up to 600 percent increase in 2,4-D use on crops, to as much as 176 million pounds per year, while independent scientists believe much greater increases are likely. Drifting 2,4-D already causes more crop injury events to neighboring farms than any other herbicide. Please tell the USDA to deny approval use of these crops. Sincerely, Paul Achitoff Managing Attorney Mid-Pacific Office ©2014 Earthjustice | 50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111 | 415-217-2000 | [log in to unmask] Alert Tools Photo Credits: Top: A farmer sprays pesticides on his crops. (Alistair Scott / Shutterstock) Bottom: Planes are used to drift pesticides over large fields. (David Kay / Shutterstock) Links: If you cannot click on the links in this email, copy this link to your browser: https://secure.earthjustice.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1541 This email was delivered to you by Earthjustice. Update your personal information or from Earthjustice's email list through your profile page. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/