 Credits: Langelle Photography A week of protests is underway against the International Tree Biotechnology 2013 conerence in Asheville, North Carolina, from 25th May to 1st June. ArborGen, one of the conference sponsors, wants to commercially sell millions of GE eucalyptus trees in seven southern US states from South Carolina to Texas. Eucalyptus trees are a documented invasive species and are explosively flammable. The US Forest Service reports they will use twice the water of native trees. ArborGen claims GE trees can be used for climate change mitigation. The groups protesting the conference say GE trees are a false solution to climate change and will actually worsen it.
+ Press release about the protests by the Campaign to STOP Genetically Engineered (GE) Trees, Global Justice Ecology Project, Earth First!, Dogwood Alliance, Biofuelwatch, Global Forest Coalition, REAL Cooperative
+ Article by Rachel Smolker: Genetically Engineered Trees and Glowing Synthetic Plants? No Thanks
Opponents of genetically engineered (GE) trees join March Against Monsanto
Joint press release by Campaign to STOP Genetically Engineered (GE) Trees, Global Justice Ecology Project, Earth First!, Dogwood Alliance, Biofuelwatch, Global Forest Coalition, REAL Cooperative
Week of Protests Planned Against Genetically Engineered (GE) Trees at Industry Conference
Joint Press Release by Campaign to STOP GE Trees, Global Justice Ecology Project, Earth First!, Dogwood Alliance, Global Forest Coalition and Biofuelwatch
U.S. public overwhelmingly rejects genetically engineered trees, Joint Press Release by Global Justice Ecology Project, Biofuelwatch and Campaign to STOP Genetically Engineered Trees
Congressional Briefing on Biomass Incinerators and Human Health 
Sponsored by Save America’s Forests, with presentations by:
+ Rachel Smolker, Biofuelwatch: Air Pollution and Other Waste Emitted from Biomass Incinerators
+ William Sammons, M.D. • Biomass Incinerators and Ultrafine Particles
+ Norma Kreilein, M.D. • Air Pollution Effects on Human Health – Children and the Inflammation Response
+William Blackley, M.D. • Biomass Incinerators and Dioxin
Please click here to download presentations.
 Protest against biofuels used in transport. Photo courtesy of Indymedia UK The US drought is having serious impacts on the global food supply which will impact the world’s poorest. Yet 40% the US’ maize crop will be fed to cars, not people, to hit the US’ bioethanol target. On Monday, the USA Environmental Protection Agency announced it will consider suspending the U.S. ethanol mandate, which requires refiners to blend ethanol into gasoline. It is seeking public feedback.
Reports suggest the primary motivations are coming from the US dairy and cattle lobby rather than from a concern to help fight world hunger – but nevertheless it is hoped that the EPA will suspend the ethanol mandate.
You can read a report from Planet Ark here.
The U.S. EPA has just released its “2010 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data from Large Facilities.” Emissions from biomass are still not included in these national inventories. A “Request for Correction of Information”, submitted back in July 2010 by the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups remains entirely unaddressed. The EPA, unsure how to account for biogenic emissions under the “tailoring rule”, accepted public comments on the matter late last year, ( Biofuelwatch submitted comments) and then meanwhile granted industry a three year exemption from reporting. To access EPA’s GHG Reporting Program Data and Data Publication Too, click here.
For background information about EPA’s GHG Reporting Program click here.
For the EPA report ” Information on the U.S. Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Sources and Sinks”, click here.
A Request for Correction to the EPA, submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity e and others can be found here.
The $6 billion Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit subsidy for corn ethanol expired at the end of 2011, but the Renewable Fuel Standard remains and will require 12 billion gallons of corn ethanol in 2012 alone. Click here for more information.
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