It is critically important to change Administrations this year for the
following reasons:

<<
===========================================

P A N U P S

Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

===========================================


A Vote Against Pesticides

October 28, 2004


Although pesticide issues specifically, and environmental issues generally,
are not in the foreground of this year's U.S. Presidential debates, they should
be. Virtually every major U.S. environmental organization has denounced the
current administration's environmental record. The Sierra Club describes it as
the most aggressively anti-environmental administration in U.S. history, and
the National Resources Defense Council declared President Bush guilty of† more
than 300 crimes against nature.


To the many issues of environmental protection, public health and social
justice voters could consider in next week's election, we add this review of
several recent pesticide-related decisions by federal agencies and
administrative
offices.


No Lindane Ban Means Higher Exposures In and Outside the U.S.

In late September 2004 the North American Regional Task Force on Lindane met
in Montreal, where Canada and Mexico both signaled a willingness to ban this
insecticide that persists in the environment and poses a threat to people and
wildlife in the Artic. Lindane is banned in 52 countries, restricted in 33
others, and is a strong candidate for a worldwide ban under the Stockholm
Convention for Persistent Organic Pollutants. At the Task Force meeting the U.S.
delegation parted company with Canada and Mexico, and refused to consider a ban.
(See PANUPS October 4, 2004
http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20041004.dv.html)


Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Undermined

The POPs treaty came into force in May 2004. Designed to eliminate a class of
dangerous chemicals that are toxic, travel long distances, persist in the
environment, and build up the food chain, it has been ratified by more than 100
nations, but the U.S. is not among them. U.S. ratification legislation is stuck
in Congress because Republicans legislators and the Administration want the
EPA to decide which of the treaty's bans to enforce and which to ignore. (See
PANUPS March 24, 2004
http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20040324.dv.html)


Montreal Protocol Sabotaged; U.S. Methyl Bromide Use May Increase

In April 2004 the U.S. delivered a demand that essentially broke the bank of
the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. At the first
ever Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties, the U.S. requested a whopping
9,500 tons of so called critical use exemptions for methyl bromide for 2005, an
increase in use that comprises fully 70% of exemptions worldwide. Confronted
with such blatant backpedaling, other nations stepped up their requests for
exemptions, weakening one of the most successful international environmental
agreements on record. (See PANUPS, April 5, 2004
http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20040405.dv.html)


Endangered Species Act in Danger

In late July 2004 the Administration adopted new rules allowing the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to perform pesticide reviews under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) without consulting U.S. wildlife agencies (i.e. the
Fish and Wildlife Services and NOAA Fisheries). This is contrary to the ESA, and
sidelines the wildlife scientists with most expertise on wildlife issues. EPA
has failed to protect wildlife from pesticides in other areas as well, as
highlighted in the April 2004 court decision severely limiting use of 38
pesticides near creeks and streams in the in Pacific Northwest because levels
harmful
to salmon are routinely found in region's waterways. (See PANUPS May 28, 2004
http://panups.c.topica.com/maacOcyabbgsea8dUjrb/ and PANUPS: February 2, 2004
http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20040202.dv.html)


More Moves to Gut National Organic Standards

In April of 2004 the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued four directives
that seriously compromised the department's National Organic Program. These
changes would have allowed, among other things, use of antibiotics on organic
dairy cows and some synthetic pesticides on organic farms, and were made with no
public comment or advice from the National Organic Standards Board, the
advisory group that helped to develop the federal organic standards. Following
sustained outcry from outraged consumers and the organic and sustainable
agriculture
communities, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman was forced to rescind the new
directives in late May. (Organic Trade Association, May 26, 2004,
http://www.ota.com.)


We urge all PANUPs readers who are eligible to vote in next Tuesday's U.S.
elections to consider what kind of environmental health and justice policies you
want, and ensure your voice is heard by voting with all the information in
hand!


Contact: PANNA


PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and reporting
on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the mainstream media.
It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North America, a non-profit and
non-governmental organization working to advance sustainable alternatives to
pesticides worldwide.


You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and all
contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit
http://panups.c.topica.com/maacOcyabbgsha8dUjrb/


===========================================

Back issues of PANUPS are available online at:

http://panups.c.topica.com/maacOcyabbgsia8dUjrb/


Please note: responses to this message will not be read.

To comment, send an email to:

mailto:panna@...


To subscribe, send a blank email to:

PANUPS-subscribe@...


Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)

49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA

Phone: (415) 981-1771

Fax: (415) 981-1991

Email: mailto:panna@...

Web: http://panups.c.topica.com/maacOcyabbgsja8dUjrb/ >>