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In response to Colin Stewart: We are all asked to sign on to causes by other environmental groups and it usually only requires a quick look at the issue, a check of the credentials and a short letter. Groups asking for letters of support don't expect others to launch a campaign - just to write a letter. This is normal in the environmental movement. In this case, the organizations supporting a ban on carbofuran are impressive. Most of us trust that the researchers who present evidence of environmental harm are truthful - I certainly do not have the time or expertise to evaluate the evidence on climate change or endocrine disruptors so I trust that people like Suzuki know what they're tallking about and on that basis will write letters of support if asked. The idea that we need to have the "expertise" to evaluate the overwhelming amount of scientific evidence on the overwhelming number of issues today, before we can offer support to groups involved in those issues, is ridiculous and a really unimaginative excuse. The Island Nature Trust was one of several groups asked to write a letter of support almost a year ago. Since then there has been a fair bit of media coverage on PEI - including some excellent interviews with Dr. Pierre Mineau, head of the Pesticide Section of the Canadian Wildlife Service explaining his reasons for opposing the use of carbofuran on potatoes. Colin suggested that perhaps the INT won't support a ban because it might impact on INT's ability to acquire land from a farmer who would support the use of this poison. I would have serious ethical problems with such an attitude. Trading acres for bird's lives? The Precautionary Principle, as Peter Montague states it, (from Rachel's #586) says, 1. People have a duty to take anticipatory action to prevent harm. (As one participant at the Wingspread meeting summarized the essence of the precautionary principle, "If you have a reasonable suspicion that something bad might be going to happen, you have an obligation to try to stop it.") Sharon Labchuk ******************************** Sharon Labchuk Earth Action 81 Prince Street Charlottetown, PEI C1A 4R3 Phone: 902-368-7337 / 621-0719 Fax: 902-621-0719 (call first) slabchuk@isn.net
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