ecobriefs
Wear Blue, Tell Two Celebrate World Oceans Day June 8
Global advocates for protecting the health of our oceans and making it a way of life have focused on youth education as the most promising activity to effect and sustain lasting positive change, based on research by The Ocean Project (The
OceanProject.org). The website suggests a multitude of ways that people of all ages can get on board.
It starts by wearing a blue shirt on June 8, World Oceans Day, and telling two others about the oceans’ vital role in Earth’s ecology. It continues by making it a
habit to reduce our daily personal carbon footprint (ocean absorption of carbon dioxide is acidifying waters), and choosing seafood that is sustainably harvested or farmed without harm to coastal waters and seafood stocks.
Visit
WorldOceansDay.org.
Act Now Help Stop Crop Contamination
On March 29, 2011, Sow True Seed joined 60 family farmers, seed businesses and organic agricultural organizations in a lawsuit led by the nonprofit Public Patent Foundation, challenging chemi- cal giant Monsanto’s right to sue farmers for patent infringement, because they say it is Monsanto that is perpetrating the injury by infecting organic farms with genetically modified seed. Mounting research shows that once released into the environment, the engineered seed (a genetically modified organism, or GMO),
contaminates and corrupts naturally reproducing seed for the same crop. For example, soon after Monsanto introduced genetically modified seed for canola, these famers report that organic canola became virtually extinct, as a result of cross-contamination. Organic corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar beets and alfalfa now face the same fate, as Monsanto continues to develop genetically modified seed for many other crops.
“In the last decade [for example], it’s become nearly impossible to ensure that corn seed is free from contamination,” says Peter Waskiewicz, co-founder of Sow True Seed (
SowTrueSeed.com).
“Morally, it has become necessary to stand up and fight for keeping open- pollinated seed safe and available,” says fellow co-founder, Carol Koury. Waskiewicz adds, “We recognize the basic right of all the Earth’s people to enjoy a safe, ethical and sovereign food production and distribution system.”
For more information, visit
PubPat.org/osgatavmonsantofiled.htm. Petition for GMO labeling at
OrganicConsumers.org/Monsanto/action.cfm. Ask the Department of Justice to step in at
Action.FoodDemocracyNow.org/sign/break_up_monsanto. Join local groups that advocate for healthy, organic, locally grown and produced products.
14 Rockland & Orange Counties
naturalawakeningsro.com Eco-Europe
Ban Planned for Gas-Fueled Vehicles by 2050
A new report by the European Commission, an executive branch of the European Union, proposes to completely eliminate gasoline and diesel-fueled cars and trucks in favor of clean-running vehicles by 2050, in a bid to decrease traffic congestion and drastically reduce the continent’s carbon footprint. The commission also would
like to enact a ban on the shortest air flights, requiring passengers to travel by other means of transporta- tion, such as trains, for distances under 186 miles. Meanwhile, infra- structure will be updated to cater to more sustainable forms of transpor- tation across the continent.
EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas describes the plan as being composed of, “very radical, very ambitious targets.” Changing the way a continent moves doesn’t come cheap: “We are talking about the necessity of an investment of 1.5 trillion euros ($2.2 trillion),” as Kallas was quoted in The Indepen- dent, in the UK. “Curbing mobility is not an option; neither is business as usual. We can break the trans- port system’s dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility. It can be a win-win.”
Source:
Treehugger.com
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