In a separate lawsuit filed on Wednesday by environmental group Earthjustice, a coalition of conservation groups challenged the administration's moratorium decision, arguing that it imperils public health for the benefit of coal companies.
Pakistan's moratorium on the death penalty has been lifted, alarming human rights groups.
Perhaps coincidentally, in the two years since the ETC Group's moratorium call there has been a palpable upsurge in research and bureaucratic activity regarding those missing pieces of the puzzle.
Two days after the attacks, Leo V. Boyle, the group's president, called on lawyers to observe a moratorium on suits related to Sept. 11.
"We call for a moratorium on the further introduction of computers in early childhood and elementary education," the group's position statement says.
Until these regulations are in place, the group wants a moratorium on the release and commercial use of synthetic organisms and their products.
In September, at a meeting of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Thomas's group and others proposed a moratorium on all gene-drive research.
Here's his piece on why his group supports the charter moratorium even while it supports charters themselves.
The group calls for a moratorium on immigration.
Leah Lopez, staff lawyer for Save the Sound, a South Norwalk-based environmental group, said: "The whole moratorium was pretty unusual.
Robert A. Wieboldt, the executive director of the Long Island Builders Institute, a Hauppauge trade group, said a townwide moratorium could result "in a major economic hit".
