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They are among America's busiest workers but they've been declining sharply in recent years due to various factors, including pesticides, mite infestations and loss of genetic diversity. Now Faith Karimi writes at CNN that President Obama has created a task force to address the issue of rapidly diminishing honey bees and other pollinators. "The problem is serious and requires immediate attention to ensure the sustainability of our food production systems, avoid additional economic impact on the agricultural sector, and protect the health of the environment," Obama said in a memo was sent to Cabinet secretaries and agency heads.
Friends of the Earth says that the US needs to immediately ban the use of neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides chemically similar to nicotine that has been linked to bee deaths. "The administration should prevent the release and use of these toxic pesticides until determined safe," says Erich Pica whose organization is conducting a campaign and has collected more than half a million petition signatures asking Home Depot and Lowe's to stop selling plants treated with neonicotinoids (neonics). So why isn't the US moving more quickly to ban neonics? Neonics play "a major role in pest management for pest control, agriculture and the ornamental plant protection industries. They serve as a group of highly effective insecticides with low risk to people and birds, which can be applied systemically to the soil," notes a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension blogger. This is a safer, better pesticide than many alternatives.
Another reason to hold off on a ban: There are still doubts that neonics are the principal cause of bee colony collapse. "In other words, while neonics might be one of the precipitating causes, they might not be the principle cause of colony collapse disorder (CCD) in the US and Europe," says David Clark Scott. "Saving the honey bees may require a more complex solution than banning one group of insecticides. And it may require more investigation into other possible causes of CCD, including parasites, viruses, climate change, bee nutrition, lack of genetic diversity and bee keeping practices."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hoochiecoochieman on Monday June 23 2014, @05:45PM
We must eat OMGs in spite of all the doubts about their safety.
We must not ban neonicotinoids because of all the doubts about their safety.
I like this thought process... Why don't you politicians just cut through the bullshit and admit that all your decisions are taken (or procrastinated forever) based on how much money some corporation would make or lose? The public interest is not a factor, fuck it.
It's funny, the guys that run the agrobusiness corporations don't even consider the consequences of the disappearance of bees, only short-term, highest possible profit. Like the guys that fought against lead bans for decades, they never for a second noticed that THEIR OWN children were being poisoned by lead, too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 23 2014, @06:04PM
They are too busy working on prequels!
Book: Getting Ready to Make Room! Make Room!
Movie: The Road to Soylent Green.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:19PM
That's because quarterly goals are what a business's management is judged on, not long-term viability. This is in large part because the financial industry who heavily controls everything can invest in agribusiness for a few quarters, wreck a large part of the planet, then move all their money out of agribusiness into, say, defense contractors, and wreck another chunk of the planet for a few quarters.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.