Hello it's good to see you all here and to see the faces that go with your voices. Thank you all for coming with your commitment and energy. There is allot of potency in this room tonight. I got involved with this issue back in July when I went to the Town Hall Coalitions forum in Occidental. I was ready to chain myself to the helicopters should they come. I have since thought there may be other ways to add to this effort but that level of commitment is strong within me.

I'd like to give you a brief overview. The Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter is a leafhopper originally from the SouthEast. It migrated to Mexico and Southern California and now with some help is heading North. It loves citrus groves and also lives on and in Ornamentals. By itself it is not really harmful, a bit messy perhaps because it feeds on and excretes water. Somewhere along the way Pierce's Disease got introduced. The Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter is the perfect vector. They have bigger mouths than our local Sharpshooter so they can feed on the trunk of the vine. They also hop and float on the wind further. Pierce's Disease has been in this area for over 100 years. Some say it is cyclical. Some say vineyards should not be planted in Pierce's Disease areas.

Anyway, the wine industry got concerned and lobbied their State Officials to declare a state of emergency claiming that if the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter takes up residence all of the grape vines are at risk of dying from Pierce's Disease. They are willing to spray our homes and yards with Carbaryl to keep the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter away from the Vineyards. We are the expendable front line. Carbaryl is a nerve toxin because of the similarities between human and insect systems. Carbaryl is in the EPA's Group 1 re-assessment program, which is made up of those pesticides that cause the greatest risk to public health. The EPA has determined it to be in the med-high carcinogen category and it is also an endocrine disrupter, which can alter hormone functions. At this point there is no known acceptable dose when it comes to endocrine disrupters.

Carbaryl is also a potential ground water contaminant. It is highly toxic to bees and other beneficial insects. It is also toxic to aquatic wildlife and birds. This is especially concerning for our endangered species. Four of which are fish, three salmonoid and a fresh Water Goby. A Shrimp, the red legged frog two birds and a salt marsh harvest mouse. Carbaryl is also shown to be toxic to 9 out of 12 of our endangered plant species in Sonoma County.

So, we know why we are all here. Solutions that are non-toxic and non-invasive must be found and implemented.

Our intention this evening is to involve all of you that have contacted us and help to organize all of our collective energies and ideas. And to put our passions to work towards our goal of putting an end to any non-consensual spraying.

We have set up individual committees that members of our steering committee are representing A representative from each group will announce the content (so far)) of their committee so that later this evening when we break into groups, you can choose the area that lights your fire. With all of your talents added, we can all cover allot of ground and angles in our goal to Educate, gather together with other supporters and organize our own Rapid Response Teams.

We also want to thank those that we have been working with so far including the Town Hall Coalition, California Certified Organic Farmers and Pesticide Watch.

We also want to express some of the operating principles that guide us including rotating chairs of meetings, non-hierarchical leadership, de-centralization and an emphasis on remaing grass roots.

There are two basic tenents that No Spray holds as it's focus point. The first is that we oppose any non-consensual spraying and that any actions taken towards our goal be done in a non-violent tradition. Everything else is open to the group process.

In closing, I would like to share a couple of thoughts. I was listening to David Browers memorial on KPFA. Wow it was inspiring but there were a couple of things that really struck me and apply to this group. The first being that this is really a civil liberties issue and an environmental one. It is a real partnership; the other was hearing Julia Butterfly Hill. She read her poem that she wrote for Luna after she had been cut. She has more right to be angry than anyone but she said we must BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE, BE THE TRANFORMATION WE WANT TO SEE. Also that THE PERSON WHO CUT Luna has enough anger for all of us, We must Love. I would also say that they have enough fear for all of us. Let us fill our hearts with why we are really here which is love for ourselves; love for our earth and love for each other.
Thank you
Thank you all for being here.

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