Friend,
We have just two weeks to stop toxic glyphosate from being let back on the shelves in Europe. [1] The big glyphosate lobbyists are trying to get this toxic weedkiller relicensed for another 10 years, so we need to ramp up the pressure and make sure that doesn’t happen.
On the 12th of October, representatives from each EU country will vote on whether or not glyphosate should be allowed to be sold in the EU. With the corporate lobbyists going into overdrive, there’s a real danger that this suspected carcinogenic weedkiller could be left back on the market. [2]
Our Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, will vote on behalf of Ireland. No doubt, the massive agribusiness lobby and chemical giants that profit from this poisonous ingredient will be in his ear. But, with an election around the corner and recent protests being held against him, at the Ploughing Championships and elsewhere, it’s clear that he’ll be under a lot of pressure. [3]
We need to add to that pressure by flooding his inbox with emails, urging him to vote against glyphosate relicensing in two weeks’ time.
This is a huge vote. If we win, then glyphosate will be banned across Europe – making our food and water safer. So friend, will you send Minister Charlie McConalogue an email now to get glyphosate banned all across the EU?
In the last month, we received the results back for Uplift members who got tested for glyphosate. Every participant, bar one, had glyphosate in their bodies. [4] One of those who tested positive for glyphosate was only 4 years old.
Glyphosate is everywhere. We can’t avoid it. [5] And it’s dangerous. [6] Many of the people who got tested had been taking active steps to avoid glyphosate, and it STILL showed up in their bodies. This isn’t fair and it needs to stop.
We know that Minister McConalogue is paying attention to the demands of big corporate lobbyists. Reports have shown that glyphosate is linked to cancer and that the studies Minister McConalogue is hiding behind have left out important facts about brain toxicity caused by glyphosate. [7]
He’s hoping this EU vote goes under the radar. We all need to contact him now, so that doesn’t happen. He needs to know we’ll be watching him and deciding on how we vote in the next election.
So, friend, will you email Minister Charlie McConalogue now and tell him that he needs to vote to protect people’s health and ban this dangerous chemical?
EU decisions like this can sometimes seem out of reach, but Uplift members have shown that when we come together, we have the power to win big on international issues. This year alone, we won big on the Nature Restoration Law and once again showed just what people-power can do. [8] Now it’s time to stop glyphosate, once and for all.
More power to you,
Brian and the Uplift team
P.S: On Tuesday October 17th, Uplift members will be coming together to watch the groundbreaking glyphosate documentary “Into the Weeds” in Dublin, along with a Q&A from the director. If you’d like to chip in to help cover the costs of the screening and travel for director Jennifer Baichwal you can do so here.
NOTES:
[1] EU Commission recommends glyphosate licence renewal | RTE [2] Glyphosate | europa.eu [3] Mixed views on Charlie McConalogue’s performance as Agriculture Minister among Carlow and Kilkenny ploughing attendees | kclr96fm.com [4] Weedkiller glyphosate shows up in all but one of the samples tested on Irish volunteers | Independent.ie [5] Over €1.2m spent on pesticide to kill weeds along rail network | Irish Examiner [6] The Roundup row: is the world’s most popular weedkiller carcinogenic? | Herbicides | The Guardian [7] Pesticide firms withheld brain toxicity studies from EU regulators, study finds | Pesticides | The Guardian & Criminal Complaint Against Bayer for Concealing Glyphosate Risks to Pregnant Women | PAN Europe (pan-europe.info) [8] Irish MEPs ‘swung vote’ to pass EU nature law | breakingnews.ie