Tag Archives: insecticides

EPA Sued Over Failure to Regulate Neonic-Coated Seeds Harmful to Bees and Songbirds

Leave a reply

“For too long, EPA has allowed pesticide-coated seeds to jeopardize threatened and endangered species across the country,” said one advocate.

By Julia Conley. Published 6-2-2023 by Common Dreams

Oilseed rape fields are sprayed with neonicotinoids. (Photo: Chafer Machinery/flickr/cc)

Two public health groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, demanding that the agency close a regulatory loophole that has allowed insecticide-coated seeds to proliferate across 150 million acres of cropland in the United States.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) are co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, which pertains to seeds coated in neonicotinoids, often called neonics.

Continue reading →
Share Button

EPA Report on Neonics Proves US Has ‘Five-Alarm Fire’ on Its Hands, Green Groups Say

Leave a reply

“There’s now no question that neonicotinoids play an outsized role in our heartbreaking extinction crisis,” said one advocate. The EPA must “ban these pesticides so future generations don’t live in a world without bees and butterflies and the plants that depend on them.”

By Kenny Stancil. Published 5-5-2023 by Common Dreams

Research has shown that a “serious reduction in pesticide usage” is essential to prevent the extinction of up to 41% of the world’s insects in the coming decades. Photo: Charles J Sharp/Wikimedia Commons/CC

A newly published assessment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that three of the most commonly used neonicotinoid insecticides threaten the continued existence of more than 200 endangered plant and animal species.

“The EPA’s analysis shows we’ve got a five-alarm fire on our hands, and there’s now no question that neonicotinoids play an outsized role in our heartbreaking extinction crisis,” Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), said Friday in a statement.

Continue reading →
Share Button

‘Huge Win’: Court Finds EPA Approval of Bee-Killing Sulfoxaflor Unlawful

Leave a reply

“It’s long past time for the EPA to take meaningful action to protect our most imperiled wildlife and put protections in place for endangered species before approving use of toxic pesticides on millions of acres of crops,” said one advocate.

By Kenny Stancil  Published 12-21-2022 by Common Dreams

Earthjustice attorney Greg Loarie said on December 21, 2022 that “scientists have long said systemic insecticides like sulfoxaflor are behind the unprecedented colony collapse of the last few years.” Photo: Charlesjsharp/Wikimedia Commons/CC

In a major victory for pollinators and other wildlife, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Wednesday ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s registration of the bee-killing insecticide sulfoxaflor is unlawful.

In response to a legal challenge brought by the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity, the court argued that the EPA’s 2019 decision authorizing the expanded use of sulfoxaflor across more than 200 million acres of pollinator-attractive crops violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court gave the agency 180 days to collect public comment and issue a new decision on the insecticide, which is produced by Corteva, formerly Dow AgroSciences. Continue reading →

Share Button

Groups to Probe Why Pruitt Put ”Pesticide Industry Profits Ahead of Children’s Health”

Leave a reply

‘Americans have a right to know who influenced the EPA to suddenly reverse course’

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-12-2017

“Americans have a right to know who influenced the EPA to suddenly reverse course and put pesticide industry profits ahead of children’s health,” said Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight. (Photo: Austin Valley/flickr/cc)

How is it that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt came to the decision to reject his own agency’s science and reject a ban the insecticide chlorpyrifos?

Watchdog group American Oversight and advocacy organization Environmental Working Group (EWG) want to know, and are ready to sue to get to the bottom of the matter.

Pruitt’s March 29 decision to deny a 10-year-old petition brought forth by Pesticide Action Network and the Natural Resources Defense Council sparked outrage from public health advocates and environmentalists who say the move—which is what the chemical’s maker, Dow, had wanted—was unacceptable in the face of studies linking the nerve agent to numerous adverse effects, from contaminating water to harming children’s brain development. Continue reading →

Share Button