Breaking the Climate SilenceIn July, my wife and I traveled to southwest Michi-

gan to attend a family reunion. At the time, Washing-ton, D.C., was unseasonably hot and sticky (even for D.C.), and I was looking forward to the cool breezes and 80-degree days typical of summers in Michigan. However as we disembarked the plane in Kalamazoo we were struck by a wall of heat. The thermostat read 103 degrees and over the course of the day it soared to 106 degrees. It felt like August in Washington, D.C., when the city used to shut down so politicians could flee to cooler climates. The heat and humidity contin-ued throughout our trip, and consequently it was an ever-present topic of conversation.

Early July typically means the beginning of sour cherry season. Michigan is the nation’s largest provider of cherries, and home to the Cherry Pit Spit Champi-onship. However, this year, you needed a 15-foot ladder to get to the cherries. A warm spell in the spring led to an early bloom for most of the fruit trees in the region. Unfortunately, the unseasonably warm tem-peratures were followed by a devastatingly cold, late frost that literally killed all the blossoms below 15 feet. This frost impacted most of the region’s apples, grapes and peaches as well. A good friend of ours runs a fairly large organic apple juice/cider operation that is all but shuttered this year because of the erratic weather.

As if we needed any more evidence of climate change, in June, Colorado was literally on fire due to drought; then, in August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a 15 percent drop in predicted corn yields from its June report, and elsewhere, nuclear reactors are being shut down because area rivers and lakes are too warm to cool the plants.

Around the country people are suffering from the impacts of climate change. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t know it from the current political debate in the United States. Candidates are talking about the fiscal cliff, the 98 percent — or the 47 percent, depending on your perspective, drilling more natural gas wells, drilling more oil wells, developing the oxymoronically named clean coal and biofuels. The one thing they’re not talk-ing about? Our leaders are staying quiet about their

plans to lead the country in addressing the visible im-pacts of climate change as well as their plans to reduce our emissions of carbon pollution in the future.

Everyone else is talking about it — from farmers in Michigan, to corn growers in the Midwest, to inde-pendent voters across the country — yet other than making jokes or vague declarations, candidates across the land are not talking about climate change.

We need to make it clear to politicians running for office that their silence on global warming is not ac-ceptable. It’s up to all of us to break the climate silence — will you help?

Sincerely,

Erich

P.S. When you go to the polls on November 6, please remember to vote for the pro-environment candidate.

Correction: In the last issue, I incorrectly identified the location of one of David Brower’s interviews in John McPhee’s “Encounters with the Archdruid.” Brower was traveling down the Grand Canyon, not Glen Canyon. Tom Turner, a former Friends of the Earth staffer and friend of David Brower, alerted me to the error. As a self-im-posed punishment, I am rereading “Encounters with the Archdruid,” and would suggest anyone who hasn’t already done so to join me.

president’s message

Erich called on negotiators to share the text of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement with Congress and the public at the latest round of the negotiations in Leesburg, Virginia.

2 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine Fall 2012

NewsmagazineVolume 42, Number 3, Fall 2012www.foe.org

President’s message …………………………. 2

Ecobites ……………………………………………. 3

The fate of the dolphin-safe tuna label … 4

Workplace giving through EarthShare …. 5

Cover story: Extreme weather & climate change .…. 6

Scary Halloween special ………………….. 12

Open house at the Brower Center …….. 14

Genetically engineered apples: A rotten ideaOur activists generated nearly 17,000 comments to the Department of Agri-

culture before the September 11 deadline, urging it to reject an application for an apple genetically engineered to brown less quickly than natural apples. If approved, it would be one of the first whole genetically engineered fruits U.S. consumers risk biting into. And, like the frankenfish we have been fighting for years, this apple would not be labeled in stores as genetically engineered. For a lighter take on the trouble with genetic engineering, turn to page 13.

Bringing a trade agreement into the lightPresident Erich Pica spoke at a protest in Leesburg, Virginia in September, rebuking negotiators at the latest

round of the Trans Pacific Partnership talks for their shady deal making — the text of the agreement is kept secret from Congress and the public. From what we know of the trade agreement, it threatens jobs, health care and the environment, while handing out favors to giant corporations. Our activists joined representatives from labor, public health, family farm, and faith organizations in demanding that the TPP be brought out of the shadows. Read Bill Waren’s blog post about the rally at www.foe.org/tpp-protest.

Protecting a landmark clean vessels lawMore than 12,000 of our activists joined us in asking the Environmental

Protection Agency and State Department to protect the Emission Control Area, a regulation that Friends of the Earth has been fighting to put into place for more than 10 years. The rules, which went into effect in August, will help reduce air pollution from ships, but already the cruise industry is trying to weaken the safeguards. Read Marcie Keever’s blog post about the law at www.foe.org/eca-under-attack. Princess cruise ship near Juneau, Alaska. Pho-

to credit: Peter Howe, www.flickr.com/photos/peterhowe.

Cover images: Drought-stricken corn. Photo credit: www.flickr.com/photos/mjfrig/7986678381/. Inset: Activists circled the White House as part of a massive demonstration to show opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline in November 2011.

Fall 2012 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine 3

ecobites

By Bill Waren

In 1987, Sam LaBudde went undercover as a cook aboard the Maria Luisa, a Panamanian boat that fished for tuna in the waters of the Eastern Tropical Pacific, which roughly extends from San Diego west past the Galapagos Islands and south to Peru. LaBudde brought a video camera with him to document the cruel slaughter of dolphins by fishing operations in the ETP. Unlike any other fishery in the world, tuna and dolphins swim together in the ETP, making it easy for fishers to spot the larger dolphins in order to identify the location of the tuna. Tuna boats chased down, en-circled and entangled pods of dolphins in dangerous purse seine nets in order to catch the tuna that swam beneath them — a brutal practice that all but Mexican fishing fleets have discontinued as a result of the U.S. dolphin-safe tuna product labeling law.

LaBudde’s ensuing documentary film of this atrocity made national news and was shown at a congressional hearing. In no small part because of LaBudde’s film, Congress enacted the dolphin-safe labeling statute

in 1990, which barred the use of the dolphin safe label on prod-ucts containing tuna caught by setting upon dolphins with purse seine nets. Today, the U.S.

“dolphin-safe” label for canned tuna is one of the most trusted environmental labels, but now it is suddenly at risk.

On May 16, 2012 the World Trade Organization issued a final ruling that the U.S. dolphin-safe label discriminates against Mexican tuna fishers, in violation of international trade law. The WTO is insisting that the United States bring its policies into conformity with WTO trade rules. But that could mean allow-

The WTO’s ruling has ramifications beyond the dolphin-safe tuna label. If the dolphin-safe tuna label can be challenged, so could other consumer labels, like those for energy-efficiency and organic food.

Caught in the net: The fate of the dolphin-safe tuna label

trade

“The beaks of Sam LaBudde’s first dolphins strained against the net that had formed a canopy over them. Their flukes churned the ocean white. They thronged at the surface, desperate to force slack in the net sufficient to free their blowholes for a breath. Their shrieks and squeals began high in the hearing range of humans and climbed inaudible scales above. LaBudde wanted to scream himself.”

– Kenneth Brower, the Destruction of the Dolphins, The Atlantic, July 1989

Comm

on dolphin. Photo credit: Nick Chill,

ww

w.flickr.com/photos/nchill4x4/

4 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine Fall 2012

ing tuna from Mexico’s fishing fleets to be sold as “dolphin-safe” even if it is harvested using purse seine nets that kill dolphins.

The United States is now likely faced with the choice of either rolling back its standards or dealing with pos-sible trade sanctions from Mexico, unless the Obama administration takes a stand in negotiations with Mexico. Forty-three House Democrats have already spoken up, calling for the Office of the U.S. Trade

Representative to defend the existing U.S. dolphin-safe tuna laws and regulations.

Friends of the Earth is similarly asking the U.S. Trade Representative and Congress to leverage their power to extend or deny economic benefits to Mexico, including inclusion in the Trans Pacific trade agree-ment and military aid, so long as the Mexican govern-ment is threatening the dolphin-safe tuna label.

trade

21 3

More than 6 million dolphins have been killed since the 1950s through a method of “setting upon” them with purse seine nets. These nets catch schools of tuna and the dolphins that swim with them in a wall of netting that can be up to a kilo-meter long and 200 meters deep. The bottom of the net can be pulled together like a drawstring purse, trapping both tuna and dolphins. Because dolphins do not swim with tuna outside the ETP, the practice of set-ting upon dolphins with purse seine nets is not followed in other fisheries.

Purse seine nets

Workplace GivingGiving through your workplace is a great way to

support Friends of the Earth’s advocacy for the planet and all the life it supports.

If your employer participates in the federal govern-ment’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC #12067), United Way, or other workplace giving campaigns, you can support Friends of the Earth through an automatic payroll deduction.

Another great way to give is through EarthShare, a nationwide network of leading environmental orga-nizations that works to educate the public about the

environment and to provide opportunities to care for our planet through workplace giving.

For more information or to find out if EarthShare participates at your workplace, visit www.earthshare.org. Friends of the Earth’s CFC designation number is 12067. For other questions, contact our membership department at (866) 217-8499 or cfrench@foe.org.

Fall 2012 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine 5

cover story

Extreme weather & climate change

As temperatures drop this time of year, the

heat, storms and weather disasters of the summer can quickly fade from memory — but this is no time to sit back and watch the world burn. From the derecho that killed 22 people1 and caused widespread power outages across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, to re-cord high temperatures and drought that led to failed crops across the Midwest and wildfires in Colorado and Arizona, to deadly flooding in Minnesota and Wisconsin, there’s no escaping it — climate change is fueling some extremely scary weather.

In August, NASA scientist James Hansen released a report that argued that the extreme weather of this summer, and really of many summers past, is unequivo-cally caused by climate change. By observing the global temperatures of the past six decades, Hansen concludes that there is no other explanation for the “stunning” rise in the frequency of extremely hot summers.2 And rising global temperatures are fueling an increase in extreme weather.

Yet our representatives in government and their cor-porate cronies continue with business as usual. They 1 http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/destructive-derecho-

tracked-by-satellite/ 2 http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/05/us/climate-change/index.html

have blinders on — either because they don’t want to disrupt their profits or because they’re afraid of facing the truth — and so they continue to sidestep any talk of how their actions are affecting our climate. The envi-ronmental community is working hard to connect the dots for our elected officials, but more has to be done.

Friends of the Earth has been working for years to educate the public and lawmakers about the effects of climate change and how we can take action to reverse or stem the tide – and it’s becoming more and more important that we break the silence.

Our current work to mitigate climate change is evident across the spectrum of our programs: our campaign to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, the con-struction of which, according to Hansen, would signal game over for the climate;3 our work to end a federal mandate to use corn crops for fuel, especially in the face of extreme drought; and our Earth Budget cam-paign to ensure our tax and budget structures benefit people, not polluters; and our work to secure funding for developing countries to adapt to changing climates through taxes on wealthy corporations and banks.

3 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/game-over-for-the-climate.html?_r=0

Fires in High Park in Poudre Canyon about 15 m

iles from Ft.

Collins, Colo., 10/18/12. Photo credit: Sgt. Jess Geffre, Arm

y N

ational Guard.

From the mandate for corn ethanol, to the giveaways to polluters, to the Keystone XL pipeline, Friends of the Earth is fighting for people and the planet.

6 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine Fall 2012

extreme weather & climate change

Tar sands oil pipelines signal “game over” for the climate

In June, more than 117,000 activists from Friends of the Earth and CREDO Action submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking it to stop the rubber-stamping of the southern segment of the Keystone XL pipeline through Oklahoma and Texas.

The proposed pipeline path originally ran from Al-berta, Canada through the Midwestern United States to the Gulf Coast of Texas — a destructive trip of nearly 2,000 miles.

But after President Obama rejected the permit for the full pipeline in January 2012, TransCanada, the oil company behind the project, pushed on, slicing and dicing its pipeline to evade meaningful review.

The initial victory we achieved in the president’s re-jection of the pipeline was the result of more than two years of active campaigning by Friends of the Earth, its members and activists, and a broad coalition of allies that fomented strategic, sustained grassroots pressure across the country.

In August 2011, 1,200 people put their bodies on the line at a sit-in at the White House, calling for the Obama administration to block approval of the proj-ect. The next month, we uncovered lobbyist influence at the State Department, undermining its review of

the project. More than 25,000 Friends of the Earth activists sent messages to President Obama, asking him to show oil lobbyists the door and reject the pipeline.

The drum beat grew stronger, and in November we joined 12,000 activists at a massive demonstration to circle the White House in opposition to the project. Our activists have sent messages to the White House, the EPA and the State Department over the years, each time repeating the core message that this pipe-line would spell disaster for the climate. The president and his administration couldn’t purport to protect the climate and set the country on a path towards 21st-century clean energy while approving the construction of a new tar sands pipeline.

Despite our best efforts to stall the project, Trans-Canada started construction of the southern segment of the pipeline in August. With the project split into northern and southern segments, we now have to fight on two fronts.

In Texas and Oklahoma we’re supporting the Tar Sands Blockade,4 a coalition of landowners and orga-nizers who are using nonviolent direct action to physi-cally stop the pipeline. Since late August, they have chained themselves to bulldozers at construction sites and staged tree sits along the pipeline route.

The blockaders have endured arrest5 and abuse6 in their efforts to shut down construction operations, and their actions have sparked national media attention like

4 http://tarsandsblockade.org/ 5 http://tarsandsblockade.org/3rd-action/ 6 http://tarsandsblockade.org/transcanada-torture/

The president couldn’t purport to protect the climate and set the country on a path towards 21st century clean energy while approving the construction of a new tar sands pipeline. ”

“

On September 5, blockaders locked themselves to machinery in Saltillo, Texas, forcing TransCanada’s workers to halt operations for the day. Photo credit: www.flickr.com/photos/tarsandsblockade.

-

Fall 2012 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine 7

cover story

that in the L.A. Times.7 The Tar Sands Blockade dem-onstrates the power of a committed group of people to take on one of the most moneyed and powerful inter-ests in the world and win a healthier future for us all.

On the northern segment, we’re focused on making sure that the Obama administration takes into account the climate change impacts of tar sands oil as it reviews TransCanada’s new application for a permit. In July, Friends of the Earth activists submitted more than 22,000 comments, and the coalition of groups fighting Keystone XL together generated more than 400,000 comments to the State Department, urging it to assess the full impacts of the pipeline on our climate and the air, water and land of impacted communities.

Unfortunately, the Keystone XL pipeline is just one of several Big Oil pipe dreams. Across the country — in the Northeast and the Northwest — pipeline proj-ects are cropping up in an effort to transport dirty tar sands oil from Canada to U.S. ports for export around the world. If these pipe dreams are brought to fruition, it will be a terrible blow to the climate, nearly assuring that we will see more unpredictable weather and as-sociated environmental, social and economic impacts.

Corn ethanol puts the squeeze on feeding people in times of drought

The drought that gripped the Midwest this summer wrought havoc on corn crops, resulting in dramatic drops in projected corn yields.8 These yields mean heartbreak and hard times for farmers and the mil-lions of people who will end up paying higher food prices this year.9

The drought has also put a spotlight on the Re-newable Fuel Standard, the federal biofuels mandate, because it forces almost half of the U.S. corn crop out of the food supply and into ethanol production every year. The United Nations and World Bank both cited biofuel mandates as a key driver of the food crisis in 2008 and we are seeing history repeat itself this year.

7 http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/16/nation/la-na-nn-keystone-xl-pipeline-20120816

8 http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2012/07/23/120723taco_talk_kolbert

9 http://science.time.com/2012/07/18/how-the-drought-of-2012-will-make-your-food-more-expensive/

wildfires killed 10 in Texas and burned 2 million acres nationwide in July

20 people died in Texas and Oklahoma from extreme heat

this tar sands oil pipeline would mean

"game over for the climate" - worsening impacts already felt across the U.S.

THE KEYSTONE XL-CLIMATE CHANGE C O N N E C T I O N

THE KEYSTONE XL-CLIMATE CHANGE C O N N E C T I O N

July 2012 was the hottest month on record for the U.S. – 3.3�F above average

Mississippi River at historic 50-year low, impacting acquatic life and river transportation

production of tar sands oil will only intensify climate chaos

people along the path of one such pipeline were hit hard this

summer by extreme weather caused by climate change

… here’s what happened

time to say “no” to kxl

87% of country suffered drought conditions, devastating crops and livestock across the Midwest

8 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine Fall 2012

extreme weather & climate change

In fact, the UN held a special session this September on the pending food crisis and called on all countries to rethink their biofuels mandates in order to prevent severe hardship for the poorest around the world.

Friends of the Earth has worked for years to com-bat the misconception that corn ethanol is a safe and sustainable alterative to oil. Not only does diverting crops to biofuels ensure that the ethanol industry “eats first,” the production of corn ethanol also degrades water sources, damages biodiversity and releases more greenhouse gas emissions than traditional gasoline.10 Moreover, using ethanol in car engines leads to mas-sive air pollution, exposing the public to higher levels of dangerous toxins. Climate change will only make corn ethanol an increasingly unstable energy source as changing weather patterns take a toll on agriculture.

Thanks in part to the advocacy of Friends of the Earth and a coalition of strange bedfellows, including animal agriculture groups, anti-hunger organizations and others, in August, a bipartisan group of nearly 300 members of Congress asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to lower the corn ethanol mandate due to the drought. Eight state governors have also sup-ported lowering the mandate, and the letters to the EPA keep pouring in.

The drought underscores the inability of the biofu-els industry to provide the United States with a safe, secure source of energy. Although we’re using almost half of our corn for ethanol, biofuels only account for 10 percent of our transportation fuel and already place undue stress on our food system and land and water re-sources.11 When corn yields fall like they have this year, the corn ethanol mandate prioritizes the use of corn for fuel, at the expense of stable food prices and envi-ronmental sustainability.12 Several studies, including a recent one by the National Academy of Sciences, have found that the Renewable Fuel Standard — 95 percent of which is currently met by corn ethanol — is already

10 http://www.foe.org/news/blog/2011-07-how-the-epa-encourages-climate-change

11 http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/e15-fuel-reaches-the-gas-pump-but-just-one/

12 http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/food/2012/07/drought_and_ethanol_how_congress_mandates_and_the_epa_s_new_policy_are_hurting_americans_.single.html#pagebreak_an-chor_2

increasing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, degrading water sources and damaging biodiversity.13

In the new normal of accelerating climate change, the problems with using crops for fuel will only in-tensify. “Stronger, more intense, and longer-lasting drought” will result from a warming climate, con-cludes Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the Na-tional Center for Atmospheric Research.14 Scientists predict climate change will make persistent droughts in the Midwest more likely over the next 20 to 50 years,15 meaning corn yields are likely to remain er-ratic. Research published by Noah Diffenbaugh, an assistant professor at Stanford University, in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that the combination of climate change impacts and biofuels mandates present the most significant threat to corn price stability over the next few decades.16

There’s no room in our energy future for any biofuel that is so easily crippled by bad weather and has such a drastic effect on global food prices and our natural resources.

Funding climate solutions, not industry fat cats

In May, we joined supporters from 350.org, Pub-lic Citizen and other groups at a rally at the Capitol to support the End Polluter Welfare Act, introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representa-tive Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). The bill is one of the most comprehensive proposals ever to end fossil fuel subsidies, eliminating more than $113 billion in di-rect subsidies, loopholes and tax breaks over 10 years. Since May, nearly a million people, including more than 23,000 Friends of the Earth activists, have signed a petition supporting the bill.

The End Polluter Welfare Act builds on decades of work by Friends of the Earth to end handouts to the industries causing climate change pollution. At the rally, Sen. Sanders explained his reasoning for intro-

13 http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13105 14 http://www.climatecentral.org/news/scientists-weigh-in-on-global-

warmings-role-in-us-drought/ 15 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/24/

what-we-know-about-climate-change-and-drought/ 16 http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v2/n7/full/nclimate1491.html

Fall 2012 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine 9

cover story

”

“ Instead of passing strong legislation to help reverse global warming, Congress continues the giveaways to the 200-year-old fossil fuel industry even as that industry’s carbon pollution wreaks devastation on our planet. Enough is enough. - Sen. Bernie Sanders

ducing the bill: “Instead of passing strong legislation to help reverse global warming, Congress continues the giveaways to the 200-year-old fossil fuel industry even as that industry’s carbon pollution wreaks devas-tation on our planet. Enough is enough.” We couldn’t agree more. Overcoming climate change is the great-est challenge of our time, and polluters simply cannot be allowed to continue destroying the planet on the taxpayers’ largesse.

The call to end polluter subsidies is part of our Earth Budget campaign, an advocacy project built on the belief that our tax and budget structures should benefit people and the planet, not polluters. We should shift funding away from propping up polluting industries and toward critical programs that protect the environ-ment and public health.

For example, instead of heaping tax breaks on Big Oil, we should secure funding to help the world’s vul-nerable populations adapt to changing climates. That’s why we support the Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street, also called a financial transaction tax. The Robin Hood Tax is a tiny tax on Wall Street trading, no more than 0.05 percent, that would curb harmful financial specu-lation and raise hundreds of billions of dollars in new revenue to pay for urgently needed public goods and services, like helping the poor cope with the threats to public health and food shortages caused by our chang-ing climate.

The Robin Hood Tax has global support: it has been endorsed by organizations like National Nurses United, the largest nurse’s union here in the United States, and has the backing of government leaders like French President François Hollande. Last year 1,000 econo-mists from more than 50 countries signed a letter to the G20 in support of the Robin Hood Tax. And this May, thousands of activists converged in Chicago in a huge show of support for a financial transaction tax to pay for social goods. Two months later we reached out to our activists and more than 13,000 of them signed on to a petition to President Obama asking him to support this important initiative.

However, not everyone is on the same page, and Friends of the Earth is working to root out detractors of the tax. In September, we sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from 63 U.S. organizations — ranging from the National Organization for Women, to NETWORK and ActionAid USA, to the Main Street Alliance — charging the State Department with leading a misinformation campaign to undermine the Robin Hood Tax.

Luckily there are champions of the idea in Congress. Rep. Ellison introduced a version of the Robin Hood Tax in Congress this fall, called the Inclusive Prosper-ity Act, and we are proud to support this bill.

Friends of the Earth has also worked for the past several years at the international level to help establish a dedicated global climate fund under the UN Cli-

President emeritus Brent Blackwelder spoke on behalf of Friends of the Earth at a rally in front of the Capitol around the introduction of the End Polluter Welfare Act in May.

10 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine Fall 2012

extreme weather & climate change

mate Convention. This August, International Policy Campaigner Karen Orenstein attended the first board meeting of the Green Climate Fund. Her efforts fo-cused on making sure that projects supported by the fund truly help the world’s poor and their environment, rather than guaranteeing profits for multinational cor-porations and financiers.

Coming together to make a differenceThe days are getting cooler and in many places

around the country families and friends are preparing for a season of coming together to celebrate the things for which we’re grateful. At Friends of the Earth we’re thankful for the support of all our members and activ-ists who through their actions, donations and other

means of support have made our work possible. But it’s also a time to think about resolving to do

better. Our climate is changing and the volatile weather it’s producing threatens our very existence. Fortunately, we can all play a part in making a difference — as individuals, we can take steps to reduce our energy use by driving less or making our homes more energy efficient, and by talking to our neighbors and friends about climate change; as a country we can decide not to continue subsidizing oil, gas and coal companies and to learn to reverse projects and policies that only lead us further down the rabbit hole; and around the globe we can agree that small change for banks can add up to big change for people and the planet.

Have you or your family been affected by the climate crisis?

Your stories will help us spread the word about the impact of climate change in the United States.Please contact us at pstocker@foe.org.

Fall 2012 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine 11

genetic engineering

12 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine Fall 2012

Halloween special: GE monsters on the loose!

When it comes to genetic engineering, don’t be tricked into thinking it holds the solution to our problems without first considering its dark underbelly. Technologies that promise larger fish, pest control, or even frivolous cosmetic enhancements to the food we eat and the environment we share are fraught with danger. Here’s a look at what’s behind the mask…

FrankenfishA salmon genetically engineered to supposedly

grow twice as fast as its natural counterpart is in line to be approved for human consumption by the Food and Drug Administration. The problem? First, if this frankenfish escapes into the wild, it could wipe out the endangered Atlantic salmon. Second, the mas-sive amounts of antibiotics needed to keep the fish healthy could exacerbate antibiotic resistance in fish and humans. And third, there’s no requirement to label genetically engineered foods in grocery stores so con-sumers couldn’t avoid this freaky fish if they wanted.

GE mosquitoesThis male mosquito has been engineered with a

genetic disorder that, when he mates in the wild, is passed on to his offspring, causing offspring to die off before they can spread diseases like dengue fever and overall reducing the mosquito population. The company behind the project has already released them in three countries, and Key West, Florida is next on the list. The reality behind unleashing swarms of GE bugs on an unsuspecting U.S. population? Human error could lead to females (the ones that bite) being acci-dentally released, leading to unknown consequences for bitten humans. Reducing native mosquito populations could open an ecological niche to be filled by more harmful pests. Currently no U.S. laws exist to regulate genetically engineered bugs.

GE applesBesides being a useless solution to a non-existent

problem, this apple, which is engineered not to brown when cut open, will make it difficult to know when the fruit has gone bad. Cross pollination could contaminate natural apples, leading to economic harm to farmers. Like the frankenfish, consumers won’t be able to tell what they’re buying without labeling requirements.

SynthiaThink mad scientists creating synthetic life in a lab is

science fiction? Think again. With an emerging tech-nology known as synthetic biology, genomes can now be written and re-written from scratch. Craig Venter has already created the first-ever organism with a ge-nome completely synthesized from a computer, and other researchers are hoping to use these synthetic microbes to produce fuels, industrial chemicals, plas-tics, and vaccines — despite the largely unknown but real risks Synthia and other synthetic organisms may pose to the environment, human health, and genetic biodiversity.

For more information: www.foe.org/projects/food-and-technology/genetic-engineering.

GE Monsters on the Loose!Illustration by Ben Claassen III, www.bendependent.com

events

From left to right: Betsy McMahon, Caely French, Katherine Kassin. Photo credit: Irina Bourova.

The Brower Center courtyard. Photo credit: Jim Ross.

Honoring David Brower: Our new office celebrationBy Adam Russell

To mark the opening of the David Brower Center in Berkeley, CA, and honor our founder’s centennial birthday, Friends of the Earth recently hosted an open house event for Bay Area members. The event, which was held in the LEED Platinum-rated center, brought together a diverse community of activists that Brower strove to unite when he created Friends of the Earth more than 40 years ago. Our president, Erich Pica, joined more than 30 members in celebrating the life and legacy of David Brower.

Friends of the Earth was founded in 1969 when Da-vid Brower left the Sierra Club with the goal of found-ing an organization that would take an uncompromis-ing stance on protecting America’s natural resources. He also aspired to address the growing concerns over water and air pollution and pesticides. The organization achieved its first major success in 1971 when it helped halt the Super Sonic Transport, a commercial plane that would cause sonic booms and harmful emissions. From there, Friends of the Earth gained its national status as a “hard-hitting” environmental watchdog and it continued to lobby for a cleaner planet in campaigns

under David Brower’s leadership. A watchful opponent of what he called “blind progress,” Brower fought to stop nuclear reactors and other recklessly dangerous technologies. Under his guidance, Friends of the Earth was able to expand to more than 70 countries.

Today, David Brower’s mission lives on in the cam-paigns and successes of the organization he founded. In his welcoming remarks to attendees, Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica quoted Brower, saying, “We are to hold fast to what we believe is right, fight for it, and find allies and adduce all possible arguments

for our cause… We become a nucleus around which the strongest force can build and func-tion.”

Over the last 40 years Friends of the Earth has remained a solid, uncompromising propo-nent of clean energy, healthy communities and environmental justice. Recent campaigns have yielded successes by blocking approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, stopping nuclear reactor construction in Iowa and setting air pollution restrictions for ships. With the opening of the David Brower Center in Berkeley, CA, Friends of the Earth honors its founder and the legacy of advocacy that continues to this day.

For more photos from the event, check out www.flickr.com/foeaction.

14 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine Fall 2012

Photos from left to right, top to bottom: Jerry Cross, Er-ich Pica; Michael Passoff, Jennifer Krill, Claire Greens-felder, Doug Norlen; Ian Inaba, Astrid Lindo, Daniel Sou-weine; Jason Mark, Michael Passoff; Whitey Bluestein, Erich Pica, Tom Athanasiou, Bill Walker. Photo credit: Irina Bourova.

Brower Center open house

We are to hold fast to what we believe is right, fight for it, and find allies and adduce all possible arguments for our cause… We become a nucleus around which the strongest force can build and function.” - David Brower ”

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Fall 2012 Friends of the Earth Newsmagazine 15

PERIODICALSPOSTAGE PAID ATWASHINGTON, DCAND ADDITIONALMAILING OFFICESVolume 42, Number 3 Fall 2012

1100 15th St. NW, 11th FloorWashington, DC 20005

Friends of the Earth (ISSN: 1054-1829) is published quarterly by Friends of the Earth, 1100 15th St. NW, 11th Floor, Washington, DC 20005, phone 202-783-7400, fax 202-783-0444, e-mail: foe@foe.org, website: www.foe.org. Annual membership dues are $25, which includes a subscription to Friends of the Earth. The words “Friends of the Earth” and the Friends of the Earth logo are exclusive trademarks of Friends of the Earth, all rights reserved. Requests to reprint articles should be submitted to Lisa Matthes at lmatthes@foe.org. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC.

Board of DirectorsArlie Schardt, Chair; Soroush Shehabi, Vice chair; David Zwick, Treasurer; Harriett Crosby, Secretary; Whitey Bluestein; Jayni Chase; Cecil D. Corbin-Mark, Clarence Ditlow; Dan Gabel; Jeffrey Glueck; Mike Herz; Russell Long; Patricia Matthews; Avis Ogilvy Moore; Steven Nemeth; Doria Steedman; Peyton WestBrent Blackwelder, President emeritus and ex-officio

StaffErich Pica, PresidentBob Alvarez, Senior analyst Michelle Chan, Economic policy project directorRebecca Connors, Online directorJulie Dyer, Executive assistantCaely French, Stewardship manager Eric Hoffman, Food and technology policy campaignerIan Illuminato, Health and environment campaignerJohn Kaltenstein, Marine program managerMarcie Keever, Oceans and vessels project directorCarrie Mann, Development AssociateLisa Matthes, Publications managerDamon Moglen, Climate and energy project directorKaren Orenstein, International policy campaignerMichal Rosenoer, Biofuels policy campaigner

Jim Ross, Development directorMadelyn Rygg, Financial controllerKathy Sawyer, Director of foundation relationsBen Schreiber, Climate and energy tax analystSharon Smith, AccountantPeter Stocker, Membership directorKendra Ulrich, Nuclear campaignerWilliam Waren, Trade policy analyst

InternsAdam Russell, CommunicationsHua Wang, Fellow, Economic Policy

Consultants/AdvisorsAstrid Design Studio Richard Ayres, Ayres Law Group Beehive Research, Inc. Brent Blackwelder, former president and special advisorShaun Burnie, Nuclear campaign consultantMike Carberry, Iowa campaign coordinatorRebecca Choi, Group Forward Citrix Sue Claytor, TPO, Inc. Jeff Conant, REDD Consultant

Colleen Cordes, Research on benefit corpsFairewinds Associates, Inc Fred Felleman, Northwest consultantKevin Fingerman David Freeman, Senior advisor Robert GuildHarmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, LLPGary Headrick, California Nuclear Campaign ConsultantInstitute for Energy & Environmental ResearchDoug Koplow, EarthTrackRoss KleinBernhard Knierim Larson AllenLiberty ConceptsMark Longabaugh, Wild Bunch MediaAdina Matisoff MD-HD On DemandDiane Moss, California Nuclear CampaignerNetwork AllianceMariama Richards Staffing AdvisorsThe Sharpe GroupBill Walker, Media coordinator for California Nuclear

Our Mission: Friends of the Earth defends the environment and champions a healthy and just world.

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