The claim that GMOs reduce pesticide use — a main selling point — should be abandoned by the industry that is gobbling up dramatic pesticide sales growth in response to hardy plant pests rapidly adopting and developing resistance to genetically modified crops.
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The European Commission recently said it will ban three neonicotinoids for the next two years citing “acute high risks” to bees associated with this pesticide. The EPA only recommends more tests. 
A recent study found that a combination of two pesticides impairs the natural foraging behavior of bumblebees, increases worker mortality as well as increases the propensity of bumblebee colonies to fail. 
Reactions to EPA’s refusal to suspend the registration of clothianidin, given the mounting scientific evidence that this systemic poison poses an imminent hazard to bees, have been strong and unequivocal. 
The EPA went to great lengths to reject a citizen petition seeking to suspend the use of a systemic pesticide that scientific studies link to massive bee die-offs. What happened? 
Accused of selling toxic bird seed for years and then covering up its use of unregistered pesticides, Scotts Miracle-Gro settled criminal and civil charges by agreeing to record-breaking penalties. 
New changes in the House Agriculture Committee’s discussion draft of the 2012 Farm Bill will eviscerate the oversight function of the USDA over GMOs. 
This past November, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report cited “severe efficacy issues” with Monsanto’s Bt corn after multiple states reported “unexpected pest damage.” 
While evidence of the detrimental impact of systemic pesticides mounts, many beekeepers and independent scientists wonder why U.S. regulators have not suspended or banned their use. 
Is glyphosate a critical tool to control weeds or a cancer-causing health and an environmental menace? The U.S. and Canadian governments plan to re-evaluate the safety of glyphosate. 
While massive bee die offs have been occurring for more than half a decade, the connection between colony collapse disorder and pesticides, particularly serious concern about systemic pesticides, has been downplayed by the EPA and the industry. 
It’s hard to imagine American agriculture without bees and, yet, we may be seeing the end of beekeeping following years of mysterious collapses of honey bee colonies in the United States and the world. 
A study confirms what many in rural communities know too well — some factory farms are industrial-scale polluters. These polluters, however, still escape clean air regulations. 
A bill that waters down EPA protections of the Clean Water Act is recommended for consideration by the House as a whole. This is one of several Republican sponsored bills aimed at reducing EPA powers. While environmental issues have taken a back seat to economy all over the country, industry groups and their defenders in Congress are using this time to advance an agenda designed to erode many successful laws, such as Clean Water Act. 
The Office of Inspector General gave the nation’s residue inspection program, which monitors to ensure that the nation’s meat supply is free from chemical contamination, a failing score. Eat meat at your own risk. Aug 5, 2010 |
 1Last week, superweeds and GMOs were on the minds of many U.S. lawmakers. Reports continued on growing pesticide resistance. Bee colony collapse problem grows. EPA considers giving environmental justice a chance. EU approved more GM maize imports, while a GMO-Free Europe conference nears. And more. EPA has announced plans to place additional limitations on the use of three N-methyl carbamate pesticides – carbaryl, carbofuran and methomyl – to protect endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, in compliance with the Endangered Species Act. The decision comes after manufacturers of the chemicals diazinon, malathion and chlorpyrifos refused to adopt the limits voluntarily. 
A recent study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey found that ALL fish tested from 291 freshwater streams across the United States was contaminated with mercury. 
Industry bias, lax scientific standards, exemption of food crops containing pesticides from registration requirements, and failure to independently monitor GM crops after approval, are among the regulatory problems exhibited by the EPA when it comes to regulating GMOs. The United States government consistently promotes its regulatory framework for genetically engineered organisms as comprehensive and strict. Is this a public relations maneuver, wishful thinking or the story of the emperor without clothes? TSCA provides the EPA with authority to regulate chemical substances which may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment during manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce, use, or disposal. TSCA applies to uses of substances that are not specifically covered by another statute, i.e., TSCA does not apply to pesticides, food, drugs or cosmetics. TSCA is therefore a “catch-all” or “gap-filler” statute. In the case of herbicide-tolerant crops, EPA establishes tolerances for the allowable amount of herbicide residues that may remain on the crop. Environmental Protection Agency's Role Under The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide ActEPA uses its authority under FIFRA to regulate plant incorporated protectants, or substances produced to control pests, both, to ensure that the production of such a pesticide in plants is safe for the environment, and to establish allowable levels of the pesticide in the food supply. |
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