Tag Archives: GE Eucalyptus

by | May 12, 2013 · 9:30 am

Victory! Environmental review to delay two engineered crops

Note:  More stringent environmental review is no funeral pyre for genetically engineered (GE) crops.  However, this news – in addition to another recent USDA decision delaying the deregulation process of ArborGen’s GE eucalyptus – suggests some promise for the efforts of the anti-biotech movement.  Global Justice Ecology Project wouldn’t bet our horses on the USDA making the right decision, but for now, we can take it as a victory in the movement to end genetic engineering.

-The GJEP Team

By Andrew Pollack, May 10, 2013. Source: NY Times

Glyphosate, a herbicide, being sprayed on a field. Some weeds are now glyphosate-resistant. Photo: H. Rick Bamman/Northwest Herald, via AP

Glyphosate, a herbicide, being sprayed on a field. Some weeds are now glyphosate-resistant. Photo: H. Rick Bamman/Northwest Herald, via AP

Genetically engineered crops that could sharply increase the use of two powerful herbicides are now unlikely to reach the market until at least 2015 because the Department of Agriculture has decided to subject the crops to more stringent environmental reviews than it had originally intended.

The department said on Friday that it had made the decision after determining that approval of the crops “may significantly affect the quality of the human environment.”

The crops in question are Dow Chemical’s corn and soybeans that would be resistant to the herbicide 2,4-D and Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant cotton and soybeans.

Many farmers say they would welcome the new crops because it would give them a way to kill the rapidly growing number of weeds that have become resistant to their main herbicide — Roundup, known generically as glyphosate. Most of the corn, soybeans and cotton grown in the United States are genetically engineered to tolerate glyphosate, allowing farmers to spray the chemical to kill weeds without hurting the crops.

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by | May 3, 2013 · 11:00 am

Fearing protestors, Tree Biotech Conference cancels field trip to industry site

Note: Global Justice Ecology Project is excited to be working with Katuah Earth First!, Croatan Earth First! and other partners to show the GE tree industry a great time in Asheville.  Click here for more info.  We hope you’ll join us at the end of May!

-The GJEP Team

By Tricocca/Katuah Earth First!, May 2, 2013. Source: Earth First! Newswire

Photo: Anne Petermann/GJEP

Photo: Anne Petermann/GJEP

There is still a month to go before activists hit the streets of Asheville, NC to protest the 2013 Tree Biotechnology Conference, but the industry is already showing signs of retreat. Apparently fearing that protestors will follow them wherever they go, the conference organizers recently cancelled a group trip to a test plot of genetically engineered eucalyptus trees. While the counties in which these test plots are planted are publicly known, the exact location of these mutant trees is a closely guarded secret. It seems they don’t want a mob of Earth First!ers to find out where they are!

The 2013 Tree Biotechnology Conference is an international gathering of scientists, forestry corporations and university researchers with a major focus on genetically engineered tree production. GE trees pose an unprecedented threat to native forests. Timber and utility corporations want to plant millions of acres genetically engineered trees throughout the South to burn for electricity, as well as to continue supplying the unsustainable lumber and paper industries. These trees would be engineered to produce their own pesticides, grow straighter and faster, tolerate manufactured pesticides, produce sterile seeds, and reduce lignin content (this is what makes the wood in a tree strong enough to stand up). If these traits escaped into native tree populations, the effects would be devastating and irreversible.

In another setback for the GE tree industry, the USDA just announced the results of their public comment period on the proposed approval of commercial plantings of genetically engineered eucalyptus trees. While over 30,000 people spoke out against the commercial planting of these Frankentrees, an underwhelming, four, yeah that’s right four, people spoke out in favor of planting GE trees. Though this public comment period shows that there is next to no support for GE trees, it is no time to let our guard down considering that government agencies regularly ignore the public opinion.
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by | April 30, 2013 · 1:00 pm

U.S. public overwhelmingly rejects genetically engineered trees

April 30, 2013. Source: Global Justice Ecology Project

GE Trees protest photo

By a majority of almost 99.99% to .01%, the US public overwhelming rejected steps toward the legalization of genetically engineered trees during the USDA APHIS public comment period that ended yesterday. The comments were in response to a petition by genetically engineered (GE) tree company ArborGen requesting permission to commercially sell their GE freeze tolerant eucalyptus trees.  Calls for a ban on the technology flooded the APHIS office, through individual online comments, petitions and online virtual meetings.

“Yesterday, during APHIS’s ‘Invasive Species Month,’ the people of the US issued a firm demand to APHIS to reject invasive, flammable genetically engineered (GE) eucalyptus trees,”said Anne Petermann, Global Justice Ecology Project Executive Director and Coordinator of the Campaign to STOP Genetically Engineered (GE) Trees. “We will continue to hold the government accountable to the will of the people, rather than corporate interests.”

South Carolina-based ArborGen hopes to sell billions of GE cold-tolerant eucalyptus trees for planting across millions of acres in the US South in vast industrial plantations to supply biofuel, biomass electricity and paper production.

Dr. Rachel Smolker, Co-Director of Biofuelwatch stated, “ArborGen’s reckless vision of using the US South as a giant sacrifice zone for energy production would wreak havoc on rural communities, native forests and wildlife across the region, pushing already endangered species like the Louisiana Black Bear and the Red-cockaded Woodpecker over the edge.” Dr. Smolker added, “and despite the rhetoric about replacing fossil fuels with climate-friendly fuels, this wood-based energy will actually worsen climate change.”
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by | April 4, 2013 · 9:00 am

Thailand: Judge clears Department of Agriculture in GMO trials

Note: Maybe we can learn from this GM contamination tragedy and stop the release of genetically engineered forest trees BEFORE it is too late.  BEFORE the genie of contamination gets out of the bottle.  Especially since the escape of GE pollen and seeds into native forests would be both irreversible and inevitable.  Let’s stop this disaster BEFORE it happens.  Sign our petition to the USDA calling for a ban on the release of GE trees into the environment.

-The GJEP Team

By Apinya Wipatayotin, April 3, 2013. Source: Bangkok Post

The Department of Agriculture (DOA) was not guilty of negligence in the management of its genetically modified papaya field trials in Khon Kaen province in 2003, a Supreme Administrative Court judge said yesterday.

In 2006, Greenpeace sued the DOA for negligence after its own research, conducted two years earlier, found the trials had resulted in widespread contamination of neighbouring papaya farms.

The Central Administrative Court ruled in 2008 that the DOA and its chief were not guilty of negligence causing serious genetic contamination of native papaya varieties, as claimed by the plaintiff.

Greenpeace appealed against the ruling with the Supreme Administrative Court.
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by | March 21, 2013 · 1:30 pm

India: GE trees a threat to forests’ diversity

Note: ArborGen is a joint initiative of International Paper, MeadWestvaco and Rubicon timber corporations.  On April 6, 1999, Fletcher Challenge Forests (now Rubicon), International Paper, Monsanto, and Westvaco (now MeadWestvaco) announced an intent to form a forest biotechnology joint venture, and to contribute $60 million over the following five years to the joint venture.  Monsanto eventually dropped out, but the venture, still backed by the other three original investor companies, came to be called ArborGen.

-The GJEP Team

By Pandurang Hedge, March 21, 2013. Source: Deccan Herald

GM eucalyptus trees at five-and-a-half years old, grown in a field trial.

GM eucalyptus trees at five-and-a-half years old, grown in a field trial.

On the World Forestry Day today (March 21) it is a matter of serious concern to note that the proponents of biotechnology industry have been working towards establishing Genetically Engineered (GE) trees to help reverse deforestation and to meet the ever increasing demand for pulpwood. 

They claim that trees that are genetically altered grow faster and yield better quality of wood in extreme temperatures. Thus they are a boon to forestry in dealing with climate change. The Pentagon even sponsored research on developing pine trees that can change the colour to detect biological or chemical attack. Obviously, these multiple uses of genetically modified trees are the basis for establishing GE forests.

The first field trials of GE trees were started in Belgium in 1988, when researchers began to develop poplar trees that were herbicide resistant and that could grow faster. In 2002,  China established commercial GE poplar trees plantation as a strategy to address the issue of deforestation. Initially GE trees were established in 300 hectares, and now China has embraced the GE technology on a large scale, integrating this into forestry sector. Latin American countries like Brazil and Argentina, the forerunners in GM food crops are also working on GE trees to enhance the production of pulp and paper.
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by | March 19, 2013 · 3:30 pm

Secret amendment could weaken biotech oversight

Note: Congress, in the pocket of the biotech industry, is trying to erode the ability of the courts to keep genetically engineered organisms out of farms and forests.  Time to act now to keep the USDA from approving new genetically engineered organisms, like GE eucalyptus.  Tell the USDA “NO WAY!” on GE eucalyptus here, and sign the petition calling for a ban on GE trees here.

-The GJEP Team

By Carey L. Biron, March 19, 2013. Source: Inter Press Service

Food safety advocates, environmentalists and health professionals here are engaging in a fervent last-minute campaign to highlight a controversial legislative amendment they say would gut the ability of both the judiciary and the federal government to regulate genetically modified agricultural products.

The U.S. Senate is slated to vote early this week on amendments to a massive, “must pass” bill that would fund the U.S. government’s operations beyond Mar. 27 to the end of this fiscal year. That bill – a piece of stopgap legislation known as a continuing resolution – is so important that leaders in the U.S. Senate had previously suggested that they would not include any potentially controversial amendments.

Yet late last week, reports arose that a legislative “rider” had been anonymously proposed that would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to overrule a judge’s decision to outlaw a genetically modified product. (The amendment can be found here, on page 80.)

As such, even if the courts were to rule that the USDA had illegally approved a particular genetically modified crop, the agency would be allowed to continue telling farmers to use the seed in question. Yet while this would seem to maintain at least the government’s oversight responsibilities, critics say the rider’s impact would go still farther.
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by | November 15, 2012 · 1:30 pm

GM tree plantations bred to satisfy the world’s energy needs

Note: GJEP Executive Director Anne Peterman is quoted in the article below.  She is also the Coordinator of the international STOP GE Trees Campaign.  In this article, Futuragene promotes their work to take a documented invastive species (eucalyptus) and cross it with a weed so it grows and invades even faster.  Great.  Let’s face reality: genetically engineered trees are a social and ecological disaster, and must be stopped.  Global Justice Ecology Project coordinates the Stop GE Trees campaign, and leads the fight to ban the release of GE trees into the environment.  To download our report on the dangers of GE eucalyptus trees for bioenergy, click here.

Please sign our petition to stop GE trees here: http://bit.ly/axNIjq

–The GJEP Team

By John Vidal, November 15, 2012.  Source: The Guardian

GM eucalyptus trees at five-and-a-half years old, grown in a field trial. FutureGene claims GM species grow thicker and faster than the natural plant, making it possible to be grown for energy generation.

It’s a timber company’s dream but a horrific industrial vision for others: massive plantations of densely planted GM eucalyptus trees stretching across Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and China, engineered to grow 40% faster for use as paper, as pellets for power stations and as fuel for cars.

The prospect is close, says Stanley Hirsch, chief executive of the Israeli biotech company FuturaGene. All that is missing, he says, are permissions from governments for the trees to be grown commercially, and backing from conservation groups and certification bodies.

FuturaGene has spent 11 years trialling thousands of GM eucalyptus and poplar trees on 100-hectare plots in Israel, China and outside São Paulo in Brazil, and is now at the last stages of the Brazilian regulatory process for commercial planting. Thanks to a gene taken from the common, fast-growing Arabidopsis weed, the company has found a way to alter the structure of plant cell walls to stimulate the natural growth process. The company says its modified eucalyptus trees can grow 5 metres (16ft) a year, with 20%-30% more mass than a normal eucalyptus. In just five and a half years they are 27 metres high.

Hirsch claims the gene-altering technique is an industrial “game-changer” and integral to the UN’s vision of a future “global green economy“. Continue reading →

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by | November 14, 2012 · 1:30 pm

Action Alert! Stop Monsanto and Co’s new GE seeds, USDA’s GE ‘pipeline’

Note:  Along with herbicide resistant corn and soy seeds, ArborGen’s cold-tolerant GE eucalyptus trees are also in the fast- track for approval, although no decision has been made yet.   GE eucalyptus are highly flammable and invasive.  Please sign GJEP’s petition to the USDA demanding a ban on the planting of genetically engineered trees here.  With your help, we WILL stop GE trees from becoming a reality.

-The GJEP Team

November 13, 2012.  Source: Pesticide Action Network

The “Big 6” pesticide corporations are moving quickly to push for USDA approval of their new wave of seeds genetically engineered to be used with older, more dangerous and drift-prone herbicides. Herbicide-resistant seeds now in the pipeline — including Dow’s 2,4-D corn and Monsanto’s dicamba soy — will drive up the use of these hazardous chemicals, destroying neighbors’ crops and creating unnecessary health risks to farmers, workers and rural communities.

Urge USDA to stop the GE pipeline; Dow’s application for 2,4-D-resistant corn is first in the queue, and 2,4-D soy andMonsanto’s dicamba-resistant soy are not far behind.

With a decision on the first application due any day, we need to speak up now. And loudly.
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by | September 13, 2012 · 10:01 am

Press Release: Campaign to target genetically engineered trees at Occupy Monsanto conference

For Immediate Release: 13 September, 2012

St. Louis, MO–The Campaign to Stop GE Trees  http://nogetrees.org will participate in the Occupy Monsanto conference here on September 16-17 to sound the alarm about the dangers genetically engineered trees pose to communities, wildlife and forests. The campaign asserts that Monsanto is complicit in this emerging hazard.

Monsanto’s glyphosate-based RoundUp herbicide will be used to control weeds around trees that are genetically engineered to be “RoundUp Ready,” or resistant to that herbicide. Use of this trait in GMO crops led to a documented tripling in the use of the herbicide, resulting in widespread problems with RoundUp resistant weeds, which require applications of more toxic herbicides to eliminate them. [1]

Just as GMO seed giant Monsanto has flooded the global market with their patented GMO seeds, ArborGen, which specializes in genetically engineered tree seedlings, intends to do the same. [2] ArborGen is a joint project of International Paper, MeadWestvaco and New Zealand-based Rubicon and one of their original joint owners was Monsanto.

“It’s clear from researching ArborGen’s public relations messaging that they see themselves as the new Monsanto,” stated Will Bennnington, of Global Justice Ecology Project. “They plan to follow the ruthless Monsanto model and don’t care who gets hurt in the process,” he added.

The links between ArborGen and Monsanto run deep. Numerous current and former staff had long tenures at Monsanto before being employed by ArborGen. [3]

“If ArborGen floods the market with their dangerous and uncontrollable GE trees, these trees will inevitably and irreversibly escape into the environment,” explained Anne Petermann, Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project and Coordinator of the Campaign to Stop GE Trees. “Patent law has enabled Monsanto to infamously sue farmers for possessing their GMO seeds after these seeds contaminated farmers’ lands. Think what that could mean to National Forests, National Parks or even private landowners if ArborGen’s invasive GE trees were found on those lands,” she continued.

ArborGen currently has a request pending with the USDA to commercially sell hundreds of millions of their GE eucalyptus tree seedlings annually for planting across the US South, claiming they will be used for bioenergy production and climate change mitigation. [4] GE eucalyptus, however, are highly flammable and could lead to uncontrollable firestorms, which would release huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. Jim Hightower has referred to ArborGen’s GE eucalyptus trees as ‘living firecrackers’.”

Contacts:

Keith Brunner, Media Associate, Global Justice Ecology Project, +1.802.777.5244

Anne Petermann, Global Justice Ecology Project /Coordinator of the Campaign to Stop GE Trees, on site. Mobile +1.802.578.0477

Notes:

[1] Benbrook, C (2009). “Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years,” The Organic Center, November 2009. http://www.organic-center.org/science.pest.php?action=view&report_id=159

[2] ArborGen CEO presentation, May 2012: https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/157094.pdf and Rubicon 2011 Interim Review: http://www.rubicon-nz.com/main.cfm?menu=left&ItemId=268

[3] http://www.arborgen.us/index.php/about-arborgen/management

[4] Rubicon 2010 Annual Review: http://www.rubicon-nz.com/main.cfm?menu=news&ItemId=100

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by | March 8, 2012 · 10:51 am

Action Alert: Comments Against GE Eucalyptus Needed by Monday 3/12

Please forward widely      Comments needed by March 12!

Help STOP planting of flowering GE Eucalyptus tree field trials in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina

Note: Please submit comments to the USDA to ban the release of dangerous and destructive genetically engineered trees into the environment.  Information on the USDA’s approval of new test plots of flowering GE eucalyptus trees is below  (engineered for reduced lignin, cold tolerance and altered flowering).  To submit comments, click here.  For language to use in your comments, see below.

For more on the dangers of GE trees, go to: http://nogetrees.org.  To sign our petition to the USDA demanding a ban on GE trees, click here.

Language to use in submitting comments:

Eucalyptus trees are introduced organisms in the U.S. and are documented as invasive pests in California and Florida.  The cold tolerance trait could vastly expand the range of this GE eucalyptus tree–and hence enhance its ability to invade native ecosystems.  Experience in California and other parts of the world has clearly demonstrated that when eucalyptus escape, it is next to impossible to eradicate them.

Court decisions on genetically engineered perennial organisms including GE bentgrass and GE alfalfa, demonstrate a growing legal foundation around the potential escape of perennial GE organisms, even in field trials.

In addition, the U.S. Forest Service has stated that plantings of eucalyptus lower water tables, and affect groundwater recharge and local stream flows, in some cases eliminating seasonal streams. This is of particular concern in light of existing drought conditions in parts of the South.  They state, “[eucalyptus] water use is at least 2-fold greater than most other native forests in the southeastern US.”

In dry regions or areas where droughts occur, eucalyptus are at high risk of catching fire.  Wildfires in Oakland California in 1991 and in Australia in 2009, both fueled by eucalyptus trees, killed scores of people and caused billions in losses.

The fatal fungal pathogen, Crytococcus Gattii has been found in the U.S.  It can cause fatal fungal meningitis among people and animals that inhale its spores.  One of the eucalyptus species used in the GE eucalyptus hybrids (E. Grandis) is a known host for Cryptococcus Gattii.  Creating extensive habitat for this fatal fungal pathogen is dangerous and foolhardy.

ArborGen’s petition must be rejected and all of their GE eucalyptus field trials removed before it is too late.

Thank you!

——————————————————————

The Daily Journal of the United States Government

Notice
ArborGen, LLC; Availability of an Environmental Assessment for Controlled Release of a Genetically Engineered Eucalyptus Hybrid

A Notice by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on 02/10/2012

This article has a comment period that ends in 26 days (03/12/2012)SUBMIT A FORMAL COMMENT

Publication Date: Friday, February 10, 2012
Agencies:Department of Agriculture & Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Action: Notice.
Dates: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March 12, 2012.
Page: 7123-7124 (2 pages)
Document Citation: 77 FR 7123
Agency/Docket Number: Docket No. APHIS-2011-0130
Document Number: 2012-3189
Shorter URL: https://federalregister.gov/a/2012-3189

SUMMARY

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for a proposed controlled field release of a genetically engineered clone of a Eucalyptushybrid. The purpose of the field release is to assess the effectiveness of gene constructs intended to confer cold tolerance, to test the efficacy of genes introduced to alter lignin biosynthesis, to test the efficacy of genes designed to alter growth, and to test the efficacy of genes designed to alter flowering. We are making the environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March 12, 2012.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by either of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0130-0001

Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2011-0130, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.

Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0130 or in our reading room, which is located in room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Evan Chestnut, Policy Analyst, Biotechnology Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0942.

To obtain copies of the environmental assessment, contact Ms. Cynthia Eck at (301) 734-0667; email: cynthia.a.eck@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The regulations in 7 CFR part 340, “Introduction of Organisms and Products Altered or Produced Through Genetic Engineering Which Are Plant Pests or Which There Is Reason to Believe Are Plant Pests,” regulate, among other things, the introduction (importation, interstate movement, or release into the environment) of organisms and products altered or produced through genetic engineering that are plant pests or that there is reason to believe are plant pests. Such genetically engineered organisms and products are considered “regulated articles.” A permit must be obtained or a notification acknowledged before a regulated article may be introduced. The regulations set forth the permit application requirements and the notification procedures for the importation, interstate movement, or release in the environment of a regulated article.

On February 21, 2011, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) received a permit application (APHIS No. 11-052-101rm) from ArborGen, LLC, in Summerville, SC, for a controlled field release of genetically engineered Eucalyptus hybrids in six locations encompassing a total of 14.7 acres in the States of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Five of these locations currently have active APHIS permits (08-011-106rm, 08-014-101rm, 09-070-10rm, 10-112-101r, and 11-041-101rm) for environmental release of genetically engineered Eucalyptus hybrids in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina. The sixth site in South Carolina has been listed as a holding site for genetically engineered trees in previous APHIS permits and notifications and is a new location for the release of genetically engineered Eucalyptus. ArborGen is requesting that trees be allowed to flower at four locations in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. At two locations in South Carolina, ArborGen has requested to release trees in containers and have indicated they will not allow these trees to flower at these locations.

Permit application 11-052-101rm describes Eucalyptus trees derived from a hybrid of Eucalyptus grandis×Eucalyptus urophylla. The purpose of the field tests is to assess the effectiveness of gene constructs intended to confer cold tolerance; to test the efficacy of genes introduced to alter lignin biosynthesis; to test the efficacy of genes designed to alter growth; and to test the efficacy of genes designed to alter flowering. In addition, the trees have been engineered with a selectable marker that confers resistance to the antibiotic kanamycin. These DNA sequences were introduced into Eucalyptus trees using disarmed Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

The subject Eucalyptus trees are considered regulated articles under 7 CFR part 340 because they were created using donor sequences from plant pests.

To provide the public with documentation of APHIS’ review and analysis of any potential environmental impacts and plant pest risks associated with the proposed release under permit of these genetically engineered Eucalyptus trees, APHIS has prepared an environmental assessment (EA). The EA was prepared in accordance with: (1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), (3) USDA regulations implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).

The EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or in our reading room. (Instructions for accessing Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the reading room are provided under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice.) In addition, copies may be obtained by calling or writing to the individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of February 2012.

Kevin Shea,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 2012-3189 Filed 2-9-12; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-34-P

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