My parents often say, “if only Carter were still president.” No other U.S. president made such valiant efforts to begin converting our country to alternative energy, and unfortunately, so many of his good plans were abandoned once his presidency ended. If Carter were in office now, I have no doubt we’d all be living in solar powered homes and driving planet-friendly cars.

This evening, I visited the website of The Carter Center and their mission statement brought tears to my eyes: advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. Join us in creating a world in which every man, woman, and child has the opportunity to enjoy good health and live in peace. To a Californian, living under the threat of chemical assault by my government, these sound like words from heaven. I was inspired to write to Mr. and Mrs. Carter, and I want to share my letter with you.
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Dear Mr. & Mrs Carter,
I was only a young girl when you were President and First Lady of the United States, but my parents have always spoken with great respect for the environmental efforts you made during that period.

I am writing to you this evening because I am so moved by the mission statement of the Carter Center: Creating a world in which every man, woman, and child has the opportunity to enjoy good health and live in peace.

I am very sorry if the following information is difficult and upsetting to read, but it is true, and I am certain you will both want to know about it.

The health and peace of the people of California is being egregiously threatened by the actions of three parties: Gov. Schwarzenegger, the California Deparment of Food and Agriculture and the pesticide manufacturer, Suterra LLC. These three parties have joined forces in a plan to subject some 7 million Californians to aerial spraying of a pesticide compound which contains documented carcinogens, mutagens, endocrine disruptors, breast-cancer-causing xenochemicals and synthetic pheromone mimics. This compound is encapsulated in microscopic spheres which are classified by the American Lung Association as small enough to be deemed particulate pollution – they enter the deep lung and cannot be expelled.

The spraying began in the fall of 2007 in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Hundreds of families were sickened and their symptoms matched, point for point, the known effects of the disclosed ingredients of the spray compound, Checkmate. These counties desperately tried to halt the spraying, but the state has declared an emergency which has allowed them to bypass all safeguards which are in place to protect human and environmental health. There has been no EIR done or anything that would normally occur to protect Americans from harm. The compound has never been tested on human beings – it has only been sprayed on crops. CDFA’s target – the Light Brown Apple Moth – has done zero damage to California agriculture, native plants or ornamentals and is considered an unimportant bug elsewhere in the world. However, because this bug was originally incorrectly classified as a Class A pest, trade restrictions apply to farmers where the moth lives. Because of this, CDFA and the USDA are being funded by Homeland Security to aerially spray 9 counties in the state, including the densely populated SF Bay Area. Never before has urban spraying of this kind been done in our nation, and we have been coldly informed that we have no vote in the matter.

Senators, representatives, civic governments, superintendents, town mayors and the people of California have come out in adamant opposition to the aerial spraying of human beings. UC Scientists and doctors are trying to rush to our aid with facts which prove both that the moth does no real damage and that the pesticide will do tremendous damage to us. Unfortunately, our governor has received tremendous documented donations from both the Ag. Secretary and the spray manufacturer and he is being accused of grave corruption by local government officials.

My loved ones, friends and neighbors are living in terror of their own public servants, and residents are becoming refugees in an attempt to flee to safety before the spraying recommences June 1, 2008. We will be sprayed 3-5 nights a month, from 8 PM – 5 AM, every 30 days, 9 months a year for up to ten years or more. The chronic pesticide exposure this will create is, frankly, terrifying, and because the pesticide is manufactured to remain in the environment for 30-90 days, there will never be an all-clear. There will never be a day with fresh air again in California if the spraying is not halted.

In addition to the serious health harm to humans caused by the 2007 spraying, it is important to add that at least 600 sea birds died in Monterey Bay, washing up in a thick scum of yellow foam which covered the ocean and watershed. Pets died. Songbirds stopped singing. Beekeepers reported that their honeybees became disoriented, struggling on the ground before dying. The microcapsules are deadly to our endangered honeybees and their contents are poisonous to aquatic life.

The labels of the ingredients in Checkmate sternly warn that they must be kept away from children, not inhaled, not put on skin, not introduced into water. But CDFA is putting them on our children, in our lungs, on our skin, in our watershed. And everyone who is benefiting monetarily and professionally from the spray keeps telling us it is safe to do exactly what the labels warn you not to do.

The health and environmental damage, damage to tourism and the economy that will be caused by the spray are considerable, and each subject is being tackled by professionals concerned with each of these things – doctors, scientists, naturalists, business owners. But no matter what evidence, what research, what proof and documentation of damage we present, we are dismissed by the Governor and Ag. Secretary A.G. Kawamura. In violation of the California Constitution which guarantees our right to obtain safety and the Nuremberg Code which declares that human beings will never again be experimented upon without their consent, we are being told we have no rights, no choice. We are living in severe civil unrest with no peace and no prospects for a healthy future here in California.

I know that your foundation works all over the world to protect the rights of human beings and to help them obtain peace and safety. I am writing to implore you to investigate what is being done to us in California and to consider speaking against the aerial spraying of urban populations. It is our belief that California is the testing ground, and if agencies are allowed to spray here, it will become a new national policy to spray pesticides on human beings. We can hardly stand to think of our beloved nation going this way.

Please, hear our voices. We are desperately begging for help as we try to defend our dear ones from chemical assault. Please, take a moment to visit some of the following resources to learn about what is being done to Californians:

Here is an informative town hall meeting video from Berkeley:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4Rlf9vns1uE

Here is an interview with Michael Lynberg, a private citizen who began documenting the pesticide illnesses:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n7Q6pmLX3po

Here is a CBS news video on the spraying:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1uzxyhnLuyE

You can watch many other videos about this public health crisis here:
http://youtube.com/user/LBAMspray

Here is a document compiled by the Environment and Human Rights Advisory listing 23 Human Rights Violations the spray presents:
http://www.lbamspray.com/00_Documents/2008/EHRA.pdf

Here is a web page documenting the known health damages caused by the ingredients in the spray:
http://hopefortruth.com/

Here is a report compiled by two respected UC scientists documenting the Light Brown Apple Moth in New Zealand and its negligible effects:
http://lbamspray.com/00_Documents/2008/HarderNZReportFINAL.pdf

Here are several websites that are covering the anti-spray people’s movement:
http://www.lbamspray.com
http://www.cassonline.org
http://www.stopthespray.org

California remembers DDT. Our veterans remember Agent Orange. We are so insulted to hear officials telling us that exposing humans to pesticides is safe and acceptable for us. They have told us we need to ‘tolerate it’, but we believe that human health should always take precedence over the financial concerns of special interests groups, and I believe that you would agree with that, Mr. and Mrs. Carter. Please, I am imploring you to research this. Time is running out for us and only public outcry and pressure on our governor will stop the disaster before any further damage is caused to our air, water, land and people. Please, consider speaking out against this spray and asking Governor Schwarzenegger to cancel his plan of spraying untested chemical compounds on human beings.

I sincerely thank you for your time and consideration and am praying that you will be able to answer my letter.
Kind Regards,
& etc.
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I urge my readers to please consider contacting the Carter Center.

Mailing Address:
The Carter Center
One Copenhill
453 Freedom Parkway
Atlanta, GA 30307

Phone:
(404) 420-5100 or (800) 550-3560

E-mail:
carterweb@emory.edu

Please, ask Mr. & Mrs. Carter to send a message to the governor asking him to stop the spray.