Dear reader,
Does the talking head of Big Agriculture belong in charge of America's agricultural trade relations? Obama thinks so. Despite claiming that lobbyists wouldn't find jobs in his White House, Obama recently nominated former pesticide lobbyist Islam Siddiqui to be Chief Agriculture Negotiator at the U.S. Trade Representative's office.
Siddiqui's record is abysmal. He led the development of the first national organic labeling standards, which allowed sewage-sludge fertilized, genetically modified, and irradiated food to be labeled as organic before public outcry forced more stringent standards. Siddiqui currently works for CropLife America, a pesticide and biotechnology trade group that fights to weaken environmental laws and treaties and keep persistent organic pollutants like DDT in use.
Siddiqui's pro-pesticide group launched a petition campaign chiding Michelle Obama for planting an organic, pesticide-free garden and lobbied to allow pesticide testing on children. CropLife America also intervened in a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit to protect endangered species from pesticide exposure. CropLife America's Web site declares that pesticides "contribute to biodiversity conservation" and "positively impact" endangered species. No one told that to the California tiger salamander, delta smelt, and countless other species that have been sickened and killed by toxic pesticides.
Siddiqui's agenda is a threat to biodiversity and human health worldwide. The planet can't afford to have Big Agriculture's talking head in charge of America's agricultural trade relations.
Please contact your senators today and ask them to vote against the confirmation of Islam Siddiqui as Chief Agricultural Negotiator. Urgent action is needed -- the vote could happen in the next two days.
If you have trouble following the link, go to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=9yfqR0vprAgY2kujbhKW6wuavRc%2BHNfW.
Sample letter:
Subject: Reject Siddiqui as Chief Agricultural Negotiator
I am writing to urge you to vote against the confirmation of Islam Siddiqui as Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the U.S. Trade Representative's office.
Siddiqui is a former pesticide lobbyist and is currently the vice president of science and regulatory affairs at CropLife America, an industry trade group representing virtually all of the pesticide and biotech corporations in the nation. Siddiqui is the voice of Big Agriculture -- an industry that has increased debt for farmers, polluted waterways, spread genetically-modified "superweeds," and threatened public health and the lives of farm workers. The chemicals that CropLife's member corporations produce are correlated with developmental abnormalities, endocrine and reproductive disorders, acute poisonings, cancers, and death in wildlife and humans. CropLife America advocates for the continued use of methyl bromide, which destroys the ozone layer, and for the continued use of persistent organic pollutants which jeopardize human health.
The fossil-fuel, chemical, and water-intensive farming methods championed by Siddiqui's Big Agriculture are exacerbating global energy, food, and biodiversity crises. These crises are further worsened by current trade agreements that promote transnational corporate control of the food system at the expense of impoverished communities and small farmers. Siddiqui's confirmation would tighten corporate control of the food supply and continue to force unfair trade agreements and inappropriate technologies onto the world's poorest countries. I strongly urge you to vote against his confirmation.
Please take action immediately.
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Crop dusting photo courtesy CDC.
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