Fwd: Tell the EPA to Act Now to Save Bt

sal (sals@rain.org)
Fri, 06 Mar 1998 06:33:14 -0800

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>Date:=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Fri, 6 Mar 1998 00:01:09 -0600
>Reply-To: Organic Gardening Discussion List <OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU>
>Sender: Organic Gardening Discussion List <OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU>
>From: Susan Snow <sksnow@1STNET.COM>
>Organization: Pollution Solution
>Subject:=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Tell the EPA to Act Now to Save Bt
>To: Multiple recipients of list OGL <OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU>
>
>The information below comes entirely from the Union of=20 Concerned
>Scientists at: <http://www.ucsusa.org/agriculture/ag.activists.html&= gt;
>Check this website for background information and publications which can
>be ordered.=A0 If organic gardeners refuse to take action to demand that
>the US EPA act now to save Bt, who will?
>--Susan Snow
>------------------------------------------------------------
>
>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Tell the EPA to Act Now to= Save Bt
>
>Issue: The valuable natural pesticide, Bt, is threatened by widespread
>adoption of genetically engineered Bt crops. The (U.S.) Environmental
>Protection Agency (EPA) must act now to place new restrictions on Bt
>corn, Bt cotton, and Bt potato.
>
>Bt crops threaten insect control on organic farms. Spray preparations of
>the naturally occurring soil microbe Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have
>been used for decades by organic farmers, vegetable growers, home
>gardeners, and others to control insects. Bt crops -- corn, cotton, and
>potato -- genetically engineered to produce Bt toxins have been grown
>the last two years on millions of acres in the United States. Similar
>acreages of the three crops are expected in the upcoming growing season.
>
>Scientists agree that widespread use of Bt crops threatens the continued
>effectiveness of Bt by accelerating the evolution of insect resistance
>to the toxins. Resistance in some insect pests may develop in as few as
>two to four growing seasons. Once insects are resistant, Bt sprays and
>Bt crops will no longer control pests. To attempt to delay the evolution
>of resistance, the EPA, under pressure from organic farmers and
>environmentalists, has required that Bt resistance management plans be
>implemented with Bt cotton and Bt corn. But these plans are too weak.
>
>In a new report published by UCS -- Now or Never: Serious New Plans to
>Save a Natural Pest Control -- scientists conclude that new, stronger
>resistance management plans are needed now. The six experts in
>resistance management who wrote the report conclude that all plans need
>to be altered before the 1998 growing season. They recommended that:
>
> *=A0=A0 Mandatory resistance management plans be implemented for each Bt
>crop
>
> *=A0=A0 New plans be implemented with large non-Bt crop refuges of 20 t= o 50
>percent, depending on the crop and pest
>
> *=A0=A0 Non-Bt refuges be planted near the Bt crops, with=20 distances
>specified for each crop.
>
> *=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 TELL EPA TO TAKE ACTION NOW!!
>
>EPA must not delay another year coming to grips with its flawed
>resistance management plans.
>
>Action: Write immediately and tell the EPA to require=20 resistance
>management plans at least as stringent as the ones proposed in the UCS
>report Now or Never (described below), including making the Bt-potato
>resistance management plan mandatory and requiring large, specifically
>placed refuges for Bt corn, cotton, and potato.
>
>Tell the EPA to act by March 16, 1998, in time for the 1998 growing
>season.
>
>Finally, tell the EPA not to approve any new transgenic Bt crops until
>field-validated strategies for resistance management have been developed
>for those crops.
>
>Write to:
>Dr. Lynn Goldman, Assistant Administrator
>EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxic Substances
>401 M St., SW
>Washington, DC 20460
>Facsimile 202-260-1847
>
An organic growers homepage check out
http://www.rain.org/~sals/my.html

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