legal challenge<\/a>\u00a0in the California Superior Court for the County of Alameda, urging the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to stop approving neonicotinoid pesticides pending its completion of a comprehensive scientific review of impacts to honeybees. \u00a0DPR began its scientific review in early 2009 after it received evidence that neonicotinoids are killing bees, but five years later, DPR has yet to take meaningful action to protect bees.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, DPR has continued to allow increased use of neonicotinoids in California. Today\u2019s lawsuit challenges DPR\u2019s June 13, 2014 decision to expand the use of two powerful neonicotinoid insecticides \u2014 sold under the trademarks Venom Insecticide and Dinotefuran 20SG \u2014 despite the agency\u2019s still-pending review of impacts to pollinators. The case underscores these larger problems with the DPR\u2019s unwillingness to comply with laws enacted to ensure that pesticides do not threaten human health, agriculture, or the environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cState officials have approved pesticides time and time again, despite mounting scientific research and real-world evidence that neonicotinoids pose harm to bees,\u201d said Paul Towers, Organizing & Media Director for Pesticide Action Network. \u201cWith no action in sight, we must take the state to court to protect bees, beekeepers and our food system.\u201d<\/p>\n
A growing body of independent science links a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics) to bee declines, both alone and in combination with other factors like disease and malnutrition. Twenty-nine independent scientists conducted a global review of 800 independent studies and found overwhelming evidence of pesticides linked to bee declines. Oregon officials also determined the neonic dinotefuran was the cause of two massive bumblebee kills in the state last year. In February 2014, the groups submitted a letter calling on the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) not to allow greater use of this pesticide.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless halted, the use of these pesticides threatens not only the very survival of our pollinators, but the fate of whole ecosystems. Scientists have consistently documented widespread environmental contamination from neonicotinoids as they build up in our soil and waterways, especially in California. The DPR has a responsibility to step in and say no,\u201d said Andrew Kimbrell, executive Director of Center for Food Safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cBee and other pollinator populations are declining at unprecedented rates,\u201d said Jay Feldman, Executive Director of Beyond Pesticides. \u201cThey cannot afford to be subject to a toxic treadmill that fails to consider the full spectrum of cumulative impacts and risks threatening their very existence. \u00a0The treadmill must be stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDPR has been saying for five years that neonicotinoid pesticides may be killing California\u2019s honey bees, and yet the agency allows more and more of these pesticides to be used each year,\u201d said Greg Loarie, an attorney at Earthjustice representing the groups who filed today\u2019s lawsuit. \u201cIt\u2019s past time for DPR to fix its broken evaluation system and protect our bees and our agricultural economy. It obviously will take legal action to accomplish this.\u201d<\/p>\n
One in every three bites of food depends on bees for pollination, and the annual value of pollination services worldwide are estimated at over $125 billion. In the United States, pollination contributes $20-30 billion in agricultural production annually. And in California alone, almonds crops \u2013 entirely dependent on bees for pollination \u2013 are valued at over $3 billion.<\/p>\n
In December 2013, the European Union began a two-year moratorium on three of the most widely used neonicotinoids. Yet the U.S. EPA, working in coordination with Canadian and California officials, has refused to take any action until at least 2018.<\/p>\n
Disappointed with the lack of a clear timeline for evaluating the harms of the pesticides, California legislators are currently advancing a bill (AB 1789) that would compel DPR to finish its review of neonicotinoids within the next two years. The bill will be taken up again when the legislature returns from recess in August.<\/p>\n
Environmental Groups<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
Greg Loarie, Earthjustice, (415) 217-2000<\/p>\n
Paul Towers, Pesticide Action Network, (916) 216-1082<\/p>\n
Abigail Seiler, Center for Food Safety, (202) 547-9359<\/p>\n
Aimee Simpson, Beyond Pesticides, (202) 543-5450 ex. 19<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today, environmental and food safety groups challenged California\u2019s illegal practice of approving new agricultural uses for neonicotinoid pesticides despite mounting evidence that the pesticides are devastating honeybees. Pesticide Action Network, Center for Food Safety, and Beyond Pesticides, represented by Earthjustice, filed the\u00a0legal challenge\u00a0in the California Superior Court for the County of Alameda, urging the California […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,6,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-128911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news","7":"category-environmental-news","8":"category-latest-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}