The Hill reported yesterday that the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ban on chlorpyrifos, an insecticide used for protecting crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and fruit trees. Chlorpyrifos has also been linked to lower IQ in children, impaired working memory, and negative effects on motor development.
The EPA instituted the ban in 2021, after the previous
administration refused to when then-EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said further
studies were warranted. As if he understood the big words and stuff. This was after
Pruitt had a closed meeting with the manufacturers of chlorpyrifos, in which no
other EPA staff were in attendance. So
much for the “transparency” he promised.
Organizations,
including the United Farm Workers, celebrated the ban. However, a Republican
senator from North Dakota called the lifting of the ban “a victory for our
farmers”. Clearly, he doesn’t know what
he’s talking about. As with Pruitt, it
comes down to pure, simple greed. I’ll
bet the good senator is also a “pro-lifer” since it is obvious he doesn’t care
about the health of children.
The 2021 ban came after a prior court ruling that gave the
EPA just 60 days to find a safe use for chlorpyrifos or ban it completely. They determined this deadline contributed to a
rushed decision that was ultimately “arbitrary and capricious”.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said the ruling
does not preclude the agency from reinstating the ban in the future, saying, the
EPA needs to “give greater consideration to whether there are cases where the
pesticide could be used safely”. Why is
it up to the EPA to find out if it can be used safely?
More tRumpism, cronyism, and anti-science in our government, bogging down the pursuit of safety, for the purpose of money. Two of the judges were appointed by Shrub,
Jr. and the third from that previous guy.
Finding other uses for chlorpyrifos is NOT the job of the
agency! That’s the job of the
manufacturers. The EPA only has to
determine if their applications are safe or not. The manufacturers are the ones who have to go
back to the drawing board to find out how their creation can be used
safely. They need to determine how to
prevent health problems in children.
Are the judges of the 8th Circuit Court of
Appeals in the pesticide manufacturer’s pocket, too?
This is like someone coming up to you and saying, “here’s my
pet rattlesnake. YOU have to find out what it’s good for.”
The EPA needs to send this back to the chlorpyrifos
manufacturers and charge THEM with finding out safer uses and
applications.
This isn’t my baby, so don’t leave it crying in my arms.
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