Europe tried it green and failed

Nearly 300 votes against, only 207 in favor: Those were the final results of a vote in the European Parliament on the “Sustainable Use of Pesticides” directive, the landmark legislation of the European Union’s agriculture reforms. The plans would have cut back on pesticide and fertilizer use, as well as shifted a major part of Europe’s farmland use to […]

ConsEUmer podcast / EP137: Glyphosate renewed, NL votes, and Digital Trade Flip-Flop (w/ Nathalie Voit)

In this week’s episode: 🌱 The Pesticide Reduction Act was struck down in the European Parliament 🇳🇱 The Netherlands have voted 📲 The U.S flip-flops on digital trade (w/ Nathalie Voit) Nathalie Voit’s article in Real Clear Markets: https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2023/11/20/the_biden_administration_stands_down_to_wto_protectionism_993405.html Start following the Fun Police podcast series ! Now on Spotify and elsewhere, episode first dropping […]

Remédier au manque de nourriture grâce au marché libre

Légaliser le génie génétique est une bonne nouvelle pour tout le monde. L’Union européenne prépare la légalisation du génie génétique pour l’utilisation dans l’agriculture. Dans un rapport datant de 2021, la Commission européenne a conclu que la législation actuelle sur les OGM n’était pas adaptée à l’édition de gènes et qu’elle freinait le développement de […]

Interviewed on the Steve Gruber Show

I was a guest on the Steve Gruber Show, a talk radio station on 1240 WJIM AM in Michigan. I talked about my recent op-ed in The Hill, responding to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s statements about the EPA’s independence. You can listen to it here:

In defense of the EPA’s independence

In a recent op-ed for The Hill, (now) independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid out the case for his candidacy. Among his grievances, he lists the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the victims of corporate capture by business interests.   As a tort lawyer and environmental activist, Kennedy has long considered the EPA […]

NY Bee Protection Bill Would Sting Farmers

Protecting the birds and the bees, that is the aim of a bill in the New York Legislature that passed in June. The bill would ban the use of neonicotinoid insecticides (known as neonics) — a move that is dear to the heart of anti-pesticide activists, but that would severely hurt farmers and consumers alike. The […]

What makes the politics of agricultural pesticides so explosive?

“Glyphosate is so harmful to humans. And it’s sprayed all over your oatmeal,” a social media user posted on X. The man parades in front of the oatmeal section of a grocery store and says we should all drop this classic breakfast option due to its exposure to common chemicals used in agriculture. The business […]

Europe’s Agriculture Reform Is Failing

The European Union commissioner for the European Green Deal has left, a farmers’ party has taken control of the Dutch senate, French president Emmanuel Macron says regulatory changes shouldn’t be rushed, and the EU’s largest political group is openly opposing reform plans that had been years in the making. It is not looking good for […]