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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Organic Consumers Association
Contact:

Katherine Paul
Organic Consumers Association
207.653.3090

Organic Consumers Condemns EPA Approval of Dow Enlist Duo Herbicide

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final approval today, over the objections of more than a half-million citizens, of Dow AgroSciences Enlist Duo, an herbicide made from a combination of 2,4-D- (one of the active ingredients in Agent Orange) and glyphosate (the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide). The herbicide is approved for use on the Dow Enlist-brand genetically engineered corn and soy crops, recently approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) issued the following statement:

FINLAND, Minn.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final approval today, over the objections of more than a half-million citizens, of Dow AgroSciences Enlist Duo, an herbicide made from a combination of 2,4-D- (one of the active ingredients in Agent Orange) and glyphosate (the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide). The herbicide is approved for use on the Dow Enlist-brand genetically engineered corn and soy crops, recently approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) issued the following statement:

"The EPA's approval of this highly toxic herbicide flies in the face of scientific evidence that not only are these chemicals toxic to humans and the environment, but that the escalation of their use will only lead to the evolution of a whole new crop of herbicide-resistant superweeds," said Ronnie Cummins,international director of the Organic Consumers Association and its Mexico affiliate, Via Organica.

"The EPA has failed in its mission to protect the environment, just as the biotech industry's toxic, chemical-intensive industrial agriculture has failed to deliver on its promises of higher yields and higher profits for farmers, and fewer poisons for the environment.

"Absent any promise of real protection, much less common-sense governing policies by government agencies like the EPA and USDA, it's now clearly up to consumers to shut down this treadmill of higher doses of increasingly toxic poisons. OCA will ramp up our campaigns to pass mandatory GMO labeling laws, and our campaigns to connect the dots between GMO crops, like Dow's Enlist corn and soy, and meat, egg and dairy products produced on factory farms which are huge consumers of GMO crops.

"We will also continue to push for farm bill policies that promote organic, regenerative agriculture over an industrial model that is destroying our health, polluting our environment, and has been identified as one of the leading causes of global warming."

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots 501(c)3 nonprofit public interest organization, and the only organization in the U.S. focused exclusively on promoting the views and interests of the nation's estimated 50 million consumers of organically and socially responsibly produced food and other products. OCA educates and advocates on behalf of organic consumers, engages consumers in marketplace pressure campaigns, and works to advance sound food and farming policy through grassroots lobbying. We address crucial issues around food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children's health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability, including pesticide use, and other food- and agriculture-related topics.