Stand with Moms against Monstanto

Courageous mother is honored with Goldman Prize for challenging corporate interests

Sofía Gatica, mother of three, got fed up and took charge. Sofía Gatica challenged powerful corporate interests to protect her family and community from pesticides — and won. This year, this Argentine mother is one of six grassroots leaders from around the world being honored with the Goldman Environmental Prize.

Stand with moms against Monsanto

Urge the White House to hold Monsanto & Co accountable

Since the death of her newborn from exposure to pesticides 13 years ago, Sofía Gatica has been working tirelessly with other moms to hold Monsanto and Co. accountable for the harms they impose. She met with the White House in April to ask President Obama to do the same.

Urge the White House to respond >> Sofía — winner of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize — hand delivered a letter to a top White House official, Ms. Nancy Sutley of the Council on Environmental Quality, urging the administration to investigate Monsanto’s “pesticide poisonings and livelihood harms” in her Argentine community, the U.S. and beyond.

Ms. Sutley promised Sofía a response by June 1, but that deadline has come and gone.

In December, an international people’s tribunal found the Big 6 pesticide/biotech corporations — Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, Dow, Dupont and BASF — guilty of violating human rights. The verdict was based on powerful testimonial from people like Sofía around the world, whose lives have been irrevocably harmed by the pesticide industry. Sofia delivered a copy of this guilty verdict to the White House along with her letter — co-authored by PAN — calling on the Obama Administration to act.

Hold corporations accountable >> Join us in urging the White House to respond, and open an investigation into the responsibility of Monsanto & Co for serious health and environmental harms in communities around the world.

Thank you for taking this important stand.

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PETITION

Nancy Sutley, Chair
White House Council on Environmental Quality
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Ms. Sutley,

In April, Sofia Gatica — winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize winner for 2012 for South and Central America — met with you and hand delivered a letter urging the Obama Administration to investigate pesticide poisonings and livelihood harms that Monsanto and other large biotech/pesticide corporations are responsible for in Argentina, the United States and beyond.

At that time, you promised a response to Sofia’s letter by June 1, but that date has come and gone. We urge you to reply to Sofia’s request.

Since the death of her newborn from exposure to pesticides 13 years ago, Sofía Gatica has been working tirelessly to hold Monsanto and Co. accountable for the harms they impose. And last year, a Permanent People’s Tribunal found Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, Dow, DuPont, and BASF guilty of human rights violations. We urge your administration to take immediate action and launch a formal investigation into the actions of multinational pesticide corporations and the harms being done to families and communities within the United States, in Argentina and in countries around the world.

It is egregious that United States-based corporations are acting without oversight of the human rights violations that they cause in the course of doing business. Communities like Sofia’s should not bear the brunt of such lack of oversight, facing illness and death without means of accountability or consequence.
We ask that you please reply immediately to Sofía Gatica. It is critical to know if the United States will be part of exacting justice and fairness as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Your name