If the Environmental Protection Agency moves to restrict neonicotinoid pesticides because of fears that they are causing bee deaths, it will happen in spite of the mounting evidence rather than because of it.
[UPDATE NOTE: This story was revised on 8 February to
reflect release of new data on neonics and bee health presented at a New
Orleans entomology conference.]
Last December, the European Commission banned the use
of neonicotinoids, often called neonics, for two years. The
moratorium, support for which was channeled by the precautionary politics that now dominate
science-based regulation in Europe, took effect just as numerous new
studies–including one released this past week–shed increasing doubt on the
belief that neonics play a central role in bee health.
Now the focus is
on Canada. Farmers in the United States are worried about a domino effect if
regulatory officials there buckle under pressure from anti-pesticide
campaigners to ‘do something,’ which could result in copycat moratoriums…..To Read More……
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