Eugene Oregon First In The Country To Ban Honey Bee Killing Pesticides

Good news for the honey bees that swarm in Eugene, Ore.: the city just became the first in the country to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, one of the types linked to declining honey bee populations.

I am so proud of our town here in Oregon for plowing forward with this policy. I feel grateful to live in an area where people really care and get involved with local issues, with a passionate fervor at times. The sustainability of bees is paramount, as we all know, in keeping biological systems healthy, and healthy bee populations trumps the benefits of chemical pesticides no?

According to Beyond Pesticides, “several bee-kill incidents occurred in Oregon last summer, including one that killed more than 50,000,bumble bees after a licensed pesticide applicator sprayed blooming linden trees, a violation of the pesticide label. After a preliminary investigation, the Oregon Department of Agriculture confirmed that the massive bee die-off was caused by the use of the neonicotinoid insecticide, dinotefuran.”

Vid and report about bumblebees

I recall this time when the bumble bees were dying and reading how many different things could have contributed to it, but I am glad the science showed a correlation with these neonicotinoid pesticides
It sounds like other states are getting onboard too, sensibly so imo. Eugene is also creating pesticide free parks, woohoo!

Eugene is just one of many communities looking to prevent incidents like this. In Calif., N.Y., and N.J. similar language is being drafted for proposal that would limit pesticides, particularly the neonicotinoid type.

In addition to the new restrictions on these pesticides, Eugene will also expand its current pesticide-free parks program, and, according to Beyond Pesticides, “now requires all departments to adopt integrated pest management (IPM) standards.”

Pesticides are, in general, harmful to honey bees…as well as humans, pets, the environment…and the list goes on. Cheers to Eugene for realizing this and making some progress in the elimination of these harmful chemicals! We can’t wait to see other states following this precedent soon.

www.onegreenplanet.org...
I hope other countries will take a look at this too. Oh wait the Europe already banned it in 27 countries! www.theguardian.com...

Like Eugene, there are other states and communities that have been trying to pass local policies relating specifically to neonicotinoids, bees and other pollinators. In California, beekeepers and local advocates are supporting a bill that would force the state of California to complete its evaluation of neonicotinoid pesticides, years ahead of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) review which is not scheduled to be completed before 2018. In Maryland, a bill containing language to restrict neonicotinoid pesticides was unfortunately recently withdrawn, after an “unfavorable report” by the environmental committee. In New York and New Jersey language has been drafted in the state legislature to restrict neonicotinoids in various ways.

Wonder if anything is in the works on a national level?

Meanwhile in Congress, The Saving America’s Pollinator Act, H.R 2692, introduced by Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Earl Blumenauer (D- OR), is gaining bipartisan support in the House. The bill seeks to suspend the use of neonicotinoid pesticides until a full review of scientific evidence and a field study demonstrates no harmful impacts to pollinators. The bill has been endorsed by several environmental groups, including Beyond Pesticides, Center for Food Safety, Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice and others.

enewspf.com...
Well color me hopeful…even though it is congress :inky: If India and China get onboard, the global bee community has a better chance and I don't think anyone can argue the benefit or function of our master pollinators.

peace and happy bees,
spec

speculativeoptimist
It sounds like other states are getting onboard too, sensibly so imo. Eugene is also creating pesticide free parks, woohoo!

This is good news!

The bees just do what they naturally do, we should be thankful for
their work every day rather than killing them off,
as we enjoy the benefit of their labors and fruits literally!
They dont hold a grudge in any case, lucky us. They come back
and try again every season.

It would be great to see California get on board with this, sad to say
that the EPA already knows how harmful neonics are, they are just in
bed with some unmentionables, big chemical companies.

Excellent!! Thank you people of Eugene!! This is amazing news as this is something that is undereported and the lack of interest from people you try to get talking about this significant problem is disturbing!!

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


I personally see it very positive, but I am afraid it might fail due to neighbouring areas still using the pesticides, which spread around via wind and well, bees still have access to other fields also.

Kind of like gun control. Banning something in small specific areas simply causes the guns to flow in from other areas. Only large-scale control would work. In this case, banning the pesticide across the whole state or whole nation (would bring better results).

This might just become excuse for others not to ban this pesticide, I hope it won´t though. Always poitive seeing such news.

Yeah everyone here feels pretty accomplished about it, we're proud of our city.

reply to post by burntheships

Good news indeed! I am glad they don't hold a grudge either bts, people think angry birds can be bad! haha
I am sure what you say about the bed sharing happens, as it so often does with big business. The chemical industry is a behemoth and are probably fortifying lobbyist with a new pitch to stop a trend that may spread to more states. But honestly, how can any argument be made that justifies widespread bee endangerment? Certainly not a few more dollars..

I might as well make it clear that I am not against all chemicals or pesticide use, but the application and potential threshold of destruction to other species are always of concern.

Hope the bees keep a waggle dancin' all year long.
Thanks for you reply,
spec

reply to post by elementalgrove

This is amazing news as this is something that is undereported and the lack of interest from people you try to get talking about this significant problem is disturbing!!

I was surprised it has not been here on ATS yet and of course it did not making mainstream news that much, not sensational enough I reckon.
In a straight up conspiracy sense, maybe some of the msm network owners have vested interests in chem co's via stocks or contracts and so they squash the publicity that should be in their station's reporting.

thats good news

and since eugene did it now more cities ( and small towns ) in the state will
start to follow ( Hopefully )

reply to post by Cabin

You make a good point cabin, but of course we have to start somewhere and spread it from there. But yea that pace could still cost a lot of bee issues. I think there are a lot of people that are unaware of the bee dieoff issues that have been going on the past several years, and now, hopefully when they do run across the subject or inquire about it, there will be sufficient opinion and evidence to persuade them and maybe voice their opinion locally. I personally believe, perhaps with blurry optimism, that a national ban will happen sooner than later because farmers and bee keepers will continue to address this as they find out more about it which is why this recent effort by our town offers hope in moving forward.

reply to post by Drezden

A Ninkasi cheers to you neighbor!

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


This is WONDERFUL! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait til my city gets on board - and can't believe stupid people are happy buying corn syrup labelled as liquid honey.

F&S&

reply to post by soficrow

Hey there soficrow! I knew you would be one to appreciate this and yea there should be a law against calling hfcs honey eh?
Keep the corn outta my honey! I think this pesticide ban will catch on in more states and this is good news.