On what scientific grounds does Tasmania continue to use the pesticides neonicotinoids, including imidacloprid?
Both agriculture and forestry use these pesticides. Forestry has actually designed ‘lethal’ tree traps using this chemical to kill insects that might eat their plantation trees.
“Lethal trap trees are being developed by researchers at Forestry Tasmania and the University of Tasmania to combat infestations of Chrysomelid beetles in …
www.crcforestry.com.au/view/index.aspx?id=51720 ”
Where is the data to show that this chemical is safe to use?
What about this?
“US policy treats chemicals as ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and supports chemically-dependent, industrial farming at all costs.”
Australian policy is the same as the USA – we tuck in behind their coat-tails and don’t make a move until they do so.
State Government has the power to control the use of pesticides after regulation via Federal Government (DAFF) – APVMA.
Where is the data to show these pesticides are safe?
Are trees being injected and thousands of beetles left dying on the ground in drinking water catchments?
What strategies are being taken to prevent water pollution?
Where is the data to show that use of these pesticides in plantations in water catchments is safe?
Here is the Pesticides Action Network Alert:
Tell EPA Bayer’s bee-killing pesticide has to go. Now.
Last week PAN joined Beyond Pesticides and beekeepers from around the country in breaking a story that is coming to be known as “Wik-Bee Leaks” or the “Clothianidin Controversy.” (Details below.)
What you can do» People are outraged and have been asking us what they can do to help. You can sign this petition, forward it to friends, post it and the story on your blog or FaceBook, write to your local paper. The short answer to “what can I do?” is make noise and keep this story in the public eye.
Urging EPA to pull a bee-killing pesticide that Germany, Italy and France have already banned is an important first step. The Agency will need unprecedented public pressure to make use of its emergency powers. And you can bet Bayer will fight back to keep this blockbuster product on the market. But we have to pick this fight.
Here’s why:
• U.S. bee populations are still declining and scientists believe pesticides are a critical piece of the puzzle. Clothianidin’s family of pesticides (neonicotinoids, including imidacloprid) are an especially suspect culprit. That’s why they are illegal in Italy and France, where beekeepers now report that colonies are recovering.
• Clothianidin is on the U.S. market on the basis of unsound science and deeply flawed EPA decision-making. Like most pesticides registered in the last 15 years, it was rushed to market prior to safety testing with a “conditional registration.” EPA has since found the study that allowed it on the market to be scientifically unsound.
• Beekeepers can’t take another season of losses. Beekeepers tell us that like their hives, their industry is on the verge of collapse. With 1/3 of food reliant on bees for pollination, the collapse of commercial beekeeping would be devastating for U.S. farmers as well.
We know enough to act. Now.» This crisis reveals systemic flaws:We need your help to convince our government that honeybees are a canary in the coal mine of industrial agriculture, and we ignore them at our peril.
Read more from the Pesticides Action Network reports HERE
