52 Congress members sign letter warning of GMOs killing monarch butterflies (March 18, 2015)

[Omaha Steve]

32. Genetically engineered crops are destroying its habitat and disrupting its food chain

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/posts/roundup-shrinks-monarch-butterfly-population/

by Shicana Allen

The beautiful, regal North American Monarch butterfly—chosen as an official insect by seven U.S. states—is dwindling in numbers and is currently at the lowest level ever measured: 18 times less than in 1996. One main reason? Genetically engineered crops are destroying its habitat and disrupting its food chain. Starting in 1997, when Midwestern farmers started spraying Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide on GMO soy and corn fields, one of the “weeds” they killed off was the milkweed plant, the primary source of food for Monarch butterfly larvae....

(One reason, not ALL the reasons.)


Monsanto’s GMO crops wiping out Monarch: http://www.thomhartmann.com/users/telliottmbamsc/blog/2014/03/monsanto%E2%80%99s-gmo-crops-wiping-out-monarch

Mar. 1, 2014 5:53 am
By telliottmbamsc

On the heels of recent bee declines, another iconic pollinator, the monarch butterfly, is in serious trouble. Last month, the New York Times reported that the number of monarchs arriving at their ancient overwintering grounds in Mexico has reached the lowest level on record.i

The monarch butterfly’s sharp decline has been linked to massive increases in the planting of GMO crops engineered to tolerate huge doses of Monsanto’s Roundup™ herbicide. These herbicide-tolerant “Roundup Ready” crops have encouraged farmers to use ever-increasing amounts of this weed killer -- virtually wiping out milkweed, the only food young monarchs eat.ii

We need your help to protect this iconic butterfly. Tell the USDA and EPA to stop approving the pesticide-resistant GMO crops and the toxic chemical pesticides that accompany them.

Over the last decade, the amount of U.S. crops genetically engineered to withstand massive applications of Monsanto’s patented Roundup™ herbicide grew to comprise 83 percent of all corn and 93 percent of soybeans.iii As a result, the use of Roundup skyrocketed and has virtually wiped out the milkweed that once grew among our farm fields.

FULL info at link.

Since I'm no longer interested in this conversation and I actually am interested in getting good information out there, here's the link about the over-wintering population of monarch butterflies in mexico.

Mexican stand off. You don't post on the DU enough to get ANY info out there. There is a word for this type behavior....

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