EPA CUTTING BACKROOM DEAL THAT THREATENS KIDS

[Guest guest]

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:

 

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program cut by $182 million.

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

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

The Conservation Security Program cut by $80 million.

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:

 

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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