The bee-keepers are definitely "little guys" in the vast
industrial-agricultural scheme of things; they need some strong allies. I
hope the Sierra Club will do more than express its misgivings ("Carman,
scientific adviser to the Sierra Club is troubled...") .
Bill Witt
PS. Thanks to those who provided the evidence I asked for re:
concentration of lead shot in crippled and unretrieved birds and on the
ground on and around the "food plots" ("shooting galleries") planned by
DNR. There's a financial calculation involved here: the last time I
looked, IDNR collected between $700K and $1.2 M in federal
"Pittman-Robertson" funding, monies collected on an excise tax on
ammunition. The more shotgun shells and bullets there are purchased in a
state, the more money that state gets back in Pittman-Robertson
allocations. If there are fewer hunters in Iowa, then those hunters need
to burn more gunpowder to keep the dollars flowing.
On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 6:50 PM, Thomas Mathews <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> **
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To
> unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
> [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv
> Lists support site for more information:
> http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Laurel Hopwood <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc:
> Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:41:24 -0500
> Subject: New research should nail the coffin lid shut on a toxic
> bee-killing pesticide
> **
> Please forward this press release!!
>
> http://www.sierraclub.org/biotech/whatsnew/whatsnew_2012-01-10.asp
>
> Press Release
> January 10, 2012
>
> New research should nail the coffin lid shut on a toxic bee-killing
> pesticide
> Entire food chain found to be contaminated, from soil to pollen to dead
> bees
>
> Contact Laurel Hopwood, 216-371-9779 (EST)
> Tom Theobald 303-652-2266 (MST)
> Neil Carman, PhD. 512-288-5772 / cell 512-663-9594 (CST)
>
> The Sierra Club, with over 1.3 million members and supporters, calls on
> the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to immediately suspend the
> registration of the insecticide clothianidin, based on new scientific
> evidence of extensive contamination in bees and soil.
>
> Last week (January 3, 2012) scientists at Purdue University documented
> major adverse impacts from clothianidin, used as a seed treatment in corn,
> on honey bee health. The results showed clothianidin present in foraging
> areas long after treated seed has been planted.
>
> The study raises questions about the long term survival of this major
> pollinator.
>
> "This research should nail the coffin lid shut on clothianidin", says
> Laurel Hopwood, Sierra Club's Chairwoman of the Genetic Engineering Action
> Team. "Despite numerous attempts by the beekeeping industry and
> conservation organizations to persuade the EPA to ban clothianidin, the EPA
> has failed to protect the food supply for the American people."
>
> Tom Theobald, a founding member of the Boulder County Beekeeper's
> Association explains, "In 2010, I got hold of an EPA document revealing
> that the agency has been allowing the widespread use of this bee-toxic
> pesticide, against evidence that it's highly toxic to bees. Clothianidin
> has failed to meet the requirements for registration. It's continued use is
> in violation of the law."
>
> Upon learning of the EPA's failures, the National Honey Bee Advisory
> Board, the American Beekeeping Federation and The American Honey
> Producer's Association urged the agency in a 12/8/2010 letter to cancel the
> registration of this pesticide. Yet despite the fact that clothianidin had
> failed a critical life cycle study which was required for registration, the
> agency responded in a 2/18/2011 letter stating "At this time, we are not
> aware of any data that reasonably demonstrates that bee colonies are
> subject to elevated losses due to chronic exposure to this pesticide. EPA
> does not intend at this time to initiate suspension or cancellation actions
> against the registered uses of clothianidin. If scientific information
> shows a particular pesticide is posing unreasonable risk to pollinators, we
> stand ready to take the necessary regulatory action."
>
> Neil Carman, PhD, scientific advisor to Sierra Club, is troubled by EPA's
> complacency. "A huge shoe has dropped. U.S. researchers have documented
> major adverse impacts from clothianidin seed treatments in corn on honey
> bee health." Carman further explains "Because of the vital role played by
> honey bees in crop pollination, honey bee demise threatens the production
> of crops that produce one-third of American diets, including nearly 100
> fruits and vegetables. The value of crops pollinated by bees exceeds $15
> billion in the U.S. alone."
>
> Hopwood exclaims, "The time is now for EPA to quit dodging the illusion of
> oversight and instead, cancel this bee- killing pesticide. If we travel
> too far down our current path, we could create conditions in our food
> system much like those that brought down the financial system."
> XXX
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To
> unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM list, send any message to:
> [log in to unmask] Check out
> our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
> http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list,
> send any message to: [log in to unmask] out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
> http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp
>
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]
Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp
|
