ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST: EXTINCT?

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Specifically, it was Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), who sponsored the moratorium amendment in 1995. A spokesperson for the senator's office states that Hutchison didn't design the moratorium to save taxpayers' money but rather to "strike a balance between the need to preserve species, and to protect private property rights of private land owners."

"My sense," says Defenders of Wildlife's William Snape, "is that the Endangered Species Act is sort of a red meat issue for the far right. Because the Endangered Species Act even dares to regulate private property, the far right has decided that it is going to make an example of the Endangered Species Act to the rest of the public."

When asked if the moratorium was expected to be lifted in the near future, Hutchison's office remarked, "Not by the end of this fiscal year."

Environmental experts suggest that the greatest hope for the reinstatement of the Endangered Species Act is the outspoken support of the public.

"I don't think that the majority of the congressional delegation understands that the American public is against extinction and that the American public supports species conservation," says the Fish and Wildlife Division's Jamie Clark.

For information on the current status of the Endangered Species Act contact the following:

Fish and Wildlife Division
(202)208- 5634
1849 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20240

William Snape
c/o The Defenders of Wildlife
1101 Fourteenth Street NW, #1400
Washington, D.C. 20005
(202)682-1331

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
(202)224-5922
Senate Office Building
First and Constitution Avenue NE
Washington, D.C. 20005

The Brazil Nut Incident

They were light tan, small, and ovular, like conventional soybeans. But during a study sponsored by the Pioneer Hi-Bred International company, scientists at the University of Nebraska found these genetically engineered beans to be anything but ordinary. The transgenic soybeans,which Pioneer HiBred had infused with Brazil nut proteins, contained a potentially deadly allergen know as 2S Albumin.

"An allergen is a protein that people react to, and can cause reactions ranging from itching to upset stomach to death," said Dr. Marion Nestle, a molecular biologist and nutritionist with New York University. "I really thought that the possibility of transferring an allergen from one food to another was a remote one. I was floored when I heard about this."

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