Target: Lee Zeldin, Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency
Goal: Consider expedited approval of plan to reduce disease-carrying mosquito populations.
A leading tech company has unveiled a plan to unleash millions of mosquitoes into two of the nation’s most populous states. No, it’s not the logline for a sci-fi horror movie. Advocates are hopeful it will be quite the opposite: an invaluable public health weapon to combat some of the world’s worst parasite-born illnesses.
Under the initiative, a life sciences company backed by Google will release tens of millions of male mosquitos over California and Florida during a two-year span. The sex of the mosquitos is important because only female mosquitos bite animals and humans and transmit diseases. The released mosquitos will be sterilized, so that when they mate with the wild female mosquitos, reproduction will ultimately not occur. Over time, the mosquito populations would ideally decrease significantly.
Why does this step matter? Biting mosquitos are carriers of a number of dangerous ailments, including dengue, yellow fever, malaria, and West Nile virus. Every year, over one million people worldwide die from illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes. This alarming statistic has earned the mosquito the notorious distinction as the world’s deadliest animal. A similar initiative as the one planned in America has yielded promising success in Singapore.
Sign the petition below to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to proceed with this potential public health tool cautiously but optimistically.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Administrator Zeldin,
Google’s Debug project – involving the release of millions of sterile mosquitoes into mosquito-vulnerable Florida and California – has already yielded success rates reaching 90 percent mosquito reduction in Singapore. A smaller-scale initiative just a few years ago in California produced similar results, leading the EPA leadership to designate the project as safe and effective. Since the initiative targets invasive species and utilizes a naturally occurring bacteria for sterilization, other presented concerns have been well-studied and deemed negligible.
As continued droughts and climate shifts continue to increase disease-carrying mosquito populations, the palpable public health threat is growing – evidenced by the resurgence of West Nile virus and the growing threat of dengue fever in America. During the review process for consideration of a special permit to launch the Debug initiative on a wider scale, please consult with experts and remain cognizant of any additional areas of concern. And, if the science is sound and the plan of action ecologically and environmentally safe, please grant this permit with expedience. Provide the nation and the world another tool in combating these tiny yet formidable vectors of disease and death.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Saeed Saeed
