The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a move that considerably upsets farmers, is moving to essentially ban the commonly used pesticide atrazine. The agency is adapting the so-called concentration equivalent level of concern (CE-LOC) for atrazine from 15 parts per billion (which it had set itself in 2020) to 3.4 ppb — meaning that thousands […]
The conversation over pollinator health has sparked a heated debate on using crop protection chemicals. In Europe, both neonicotinoid pesticides (marketed since the 1990s) and its competitor sulfoxaflor (registered with the EPA since 2013) have been banned over concerns the insecticides adversely affect bee health. “Should other politicians vote down the (National Front’s) proposals on […]
Pollinators are essential to our ecosystem; thus, a drastic decline in them would hurt not just nature around us but also humans. With that in mind, lawmakers around the globe have been worried about the effect of human behaviour on the sustainability of bee colonies. Environmentalists have been adamant that “bee-killing pesticides” are to blame, […]
May 20th marked the annual World Bee Day of the United Nations, an excellent occasion to debunk the myth that the bees are dying because of modern agriculture. This common misconception has been making the rounds through environmentalist activism and the media for almost two decades. When California beekeepers in the 2000s experienced losses in their […]
On World Bee Day, let’s set the record straight. It has been seven years since the Washington Post famously dispelled the myth of a catastrophic bee decline in an article titled “Call off the bee-pocalypse: honeybee colonies just hit a 20-year high.” The piece was one of many attempts to underline that pollinators are not under threat, […]
The United States is facing a historic shortage of weed killers due to ongoing supply chain issues. The manufacturers are struggling to get their hands on some of the inert chemicals needed to make herbicides, as well as cardboard boxes and plastic jugs for caps. Glyphosate is one of the chemicals most affected by these […]
This week on the ConsEUmer podcast: 🚜 Farm to Fork hangs in the balance 😶🌫️ World Vapers’ Alliance fights flavour bans (w/ Michael Landl) 🇱🇹 LNG has changed Lithuania’s gas market (w/ Rytis Valūnas) You can follow Rytis Valūnas on Twitter @rytisvalunas. He also runs a podcast! Check out his most recent interview with EU […]
If you’re a regular consumer of memes, then you’ve likely heard of the widely used herbicide atrazine. Conspiracy theory broadcaster Alex Jones mentioned the chemical in a now-viral segment claiming it “turns the frog gay.” Jones had based his claims on research by a Berkeley biology professor named Tyrone Hayes. In 2002, Hayes published a […]
Throughout the country, there is a rising movement that hopes to make regulations on American agriculture mirror that of the European Union. It would be a toxic mistake. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have teamed up to introduce the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act (PACTA), supported by a set of green environmental […]
The EU’s new blueprint for sustainable food systems risks hurting both consumers and farmers. By 2030, the European Union is aiming to achieve a wide range of goals, according to the European Commission’s “Farm to Fork” strategy. From a political point of view, the document is the confirmation of a trend: green ideas are gaining […]
Bill Wirtz 