EPA Cutting Backroom Deal that Threatens Kids (Organic Bytes #47)

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EPA Cutting Backroom Deal that Threatens Kids (Organic Bytes #47)

 

Organic Bytes #47

Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!

12/31/2004

 

EPA CUTTING BACKROOM DEAL THAT THREATENS KIDS

Dow Chemical company is in the process of striking a backroom deal

with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to repeal a ban on a

widely used, highly toxic pesticide called Dursban. Four years ago,

the EPA announced it had conclusive evidence that Dow's pesticide

Dursban (chlorpyrifos) " does not provide an adequate margin of

protection for children. " The EPA said that Dursban, which is commonly

applied to lawns, parks and playgrounds, can cause severe neurological

disorders in kids, as well as birth defects. As a result, the EPA

mandated that the insecticide be removed from the market by Dec. 31,

2004. However, the Washington Post reported Dec. 21 that the EPA is

planning to reverse the ban on Dursban, based on pressure from Dow,

who insists that the chemical is safe for kids. As a note on the

trustworthiness of Dow, in 2003 the company was fined $2 million for

illegally making false safety claims about its pesticides.

Sign a petition to the EPA here:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa-dow.htm

 

 

 

BREAKING NEWS ON THE OZONE LAYER

In violation of an international treaty and the Clean Air Act, the EPA

has approved the continued use of the banned toxic pesticide methyl

bromide, which is highly dangerous to human health, and a leading

cause of ozone depletion. The Montreal Protocol, a landmark

international treaty signed in 1987 by every industrialized nation,

including the U.S., required that methyl bromide be eliminated by the

end of 2004, in order to stop the life-threatening depletion of the

ozone layer. Under pressure from agribusiness and chemical lobbyists,

President Bush announced in early 2004 that the U.S. would become the

only industrialized nation in the world to pull out of this

environmental treaty. Last week, the EPA took action on that request,

and, instead of banning methyl bromide along with the rest of the

world, has increased its allowed use. Learn more...

 

 

 

A WARM ORGANIC THANKS!

We'd like to thank all of you who have made donations to the Organic

Consumers Association in 2004. Your donations of time and money, among

other things, have enabled us to double the size of our online network

(we now have more than 200,000 rs to Organic Bytes), increase

the daily traffic on our website (eight million hits per month), and

turn up the heat on out-of-control corporations and government

bureaucrats. We look forward to stepping up the pace with the entire

OCA community in the New Year-- safeguarding organic standards,

challenging genetic engineering and industrial farming, and promoting

sustainable agriculture, global justice, and Fair Trade. Thank you for

your support and all your efforts for a better world!

 

 

 

COCA-COLA'S MARKETING PRACTICES RIVAL BIG TOBACCO

The American Postal Workers Union has passed a resolution: " that the

United States Postal Service remove all Coca-Cola products from all

postal facilities. " The resolution was passed in response to

Coca-Cola's heavy marketing to children, including schools, and the

company's recent denial of negative health effects associated with

consumption of sugar-laced sodas. In a recent letter to

educationnews.org, the Coca-Cola company went so far as to claim that

soft drinks have no connection whatsoever to obesity or diabetes. In

the manner of Big Tobacco, John Alm, Coca-Cola's chief operating

officer, was quoted in the Atlanta Journal as saying, " The school

system is where you build brand loyalty. " Coca-Cola's 2003 Management

Financial Review document speaks out against " Laws that restrict our

ability to distribute products in schools. " Learn more...

 

 

 

YOUNG ECO-HEROES SOUGHT

Action for Nature is seeking applications from kids 8 to 16 years old

for its 2005 International Young Eco-Hero Awards Program. Cash prizes

up to $500 will be awarded. The 2004 award winners include Janine

Licare (14), who helps to save endangered animals in Costa Rica;

Christina Faust (16) of Georgia, who studies the vegetation around

streams to better understand how plants contribute to the stream's

ecosystem; and Salaar Khan (11) of Pakistan, who influences his

neighbors to use cloth bags and eliminate the toxins created when

plastic bags are burned. Learn more...

 

 

 

FARM CONSERVATION PROGRAMS SLASHED

On December 8, congress passed and the President signed an omnibus

appropriations bill that created the following cuts in farm

conservation programs:

 

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The Environmental Quality Incentives Program cut by $182 million.

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The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program cut by 55% ($38 million).

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100,000 acres (38%) cut out of the Wetlands Reserve Program.

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The Conservation Security Program cut by $80 million.

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The Farm and Ranchland Protection Program cut by $12 million.

 

Read the full final appropriations bill here.

 

 

 

WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL NATION IS SICK

The World Health Organization has announced that the U.S. now has

shorter life expectancies and higher infant and child mortality rates

than Canada, Japan and all of Western Europe, except Portugal. Factors

contributing to this decline in public health include weaker laws on

toxic chemicals, higher levels of economic disparity, junk food diets,

and a lack of health care access for millions of families. According

to the Congressional Budget Office, average prices for pharmaceutical

drugs in the top 25 industrialized nations of the world are 35% to 55%

lower than in the United States, where profits of pharmaceutical

companies are on the rise. Learn more...

 

 

 

NEW CASE OF MAD COW IN CANADA

Shortly after the U.S. had said it would lift the ban on Canadian

cattle imports, Canada has announced that screening tests have

revealed a new suspected case of mad cow disease. The U.S. banned

Canadian cattle imports on May 20, 2003, after mad cow disease was

first found in Alberta. According to the U.S. Department of

Agriculture, the ban will be lifted despite the discovery of a new

case of the fatal disease, due to the fact that the suspect animal was

born before the Canadian mad cow regulations were implemented seven

years ago. Learn more...

 

 

 

Donate directly to South Asian tsunami relief efforts on the ground:

 

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CARE: 1-800-521-CARE ext. 999

*

Doctors without Borders: 1-888-392-0392

*

Oxfam: 1-800-77-OXFAM

*

Red Cross:1-800-HELP-NOW

*

UNICEF (United Nations Childrens Fund): 1-800-4-UNICEF

 

 

 

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