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Stop GMO "Darling 58" American Chestnut Trees
Tell the USDA to Reject Genetically Engineered Forest Trees
“In any revolutionary area, and biotechnology is a revolutionary area, most of our current ideas are wrong. Then I ask you, what the hell is the rush to apply these ideas… we’re still at the very beginning of understanding what we’re doing. The rush to apply these ideas is absolutely dangerous, because we don’t have a clue what the long term impacts of our manipulations are going to be.” - Dr. David Suzuki, geneticist and educator
The USDA has opened a second public comment period to seek input for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) they plan to prepare on whether or not to approve the genetically engineered (GE) Darling 58 American chestnut tree.
Researchers at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) are requesting USDA approval to plant genetically engineered American chestnut trees throughout our forests, where they would spread freely in a massive uncontrolled experiment.
If approved, this would be the first GE forest tree in North America, and the first-ever genetically modified organism (GMO) released to intentionally spread into wild ecosystems.
We need to respond in force. If we don't speak up, the USDA will assume we don't care. The pro-GE tree side is mobilizing their base to submit comments in support of GE trees. We must remind the USDA that people across the country oppose GE trees.
Global Justice Ecology Project has carefully documented that the timber and biotechnology industries selected the GE American chestnut as a Trojan Horse. It is designed to pave the way for the rubber-stamping of future industrial plantations of herbicide-tolerant and insecticide-producing GE trees such as poplar, pine and eucalyptus. These plantations would rely heavily on toxic chemicals, use vast quantities of fresh water, threaten to replace natural forests and displace rural and Indigenous communities globally.
There are no long-term risk assessments of the impact of these GE trees on forests, wildlife, pollinators or soils and it is not possible to conduct such assessments on a tree known historically to live for hundreds of years.
Read about the risks in the white paper Biotechnology For Forest Health? The Test Case of the Genetically Engineered American Chestnut.
Then watch “A SILENT FOREST”, a must-watch documentary about GE trees, narrated by Dr. David Suzuki: https://vimeo.com/51040243
Make your voice heard. Comment to the USDA today and ask friends and family who care about our natural environment to do the same. The public comment deadline is September 7 at 11:59PM Eastern Time. Use the pre-written comment or edit to make it your own.
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