60 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS CALL ON EPA TO PROTECT AMERICANS FROM DEADLY PESTICIDES

Source: House Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI, 13th)

Washington, D.C. - September 1, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- 60 Members of Congress, led by Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), today sent a letter to Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, requesting information on the steps the EPA is taking to protect Americans, bees and other pollinators from harmful pesticides.

The letter notes that last year, “EPA scientists concluded that the agency should ban chlorpyrifos, a commonly used pesticide, on farms across the country due to significant evidence of the harmful effects it has on farmworkers and young children.” Research shows that prenatal exposures to chlorpyrifos are associated with reduced IQ, loss of working memory, attention disorders and delayed motor development. In March, the Trump Administration reversed this decision and instead chose to keep this pesticide on the market. Chlorpyrifos was previously banned for household use in 2000.

According to news reports, EPA Administrator Pruitt met with Dow CEO Andrew Liveris on March 9th, just 20 days before reversing the Administration’s decision on pesticides. The Members wrote,

“Given the precedent this action has created at EPA, we are deeply concerned that your agency has adopted a new standard of pesticide review and will start making pesticide registration determinations based on recommendations from pesticide manufacturers instead of basing agency decisions on sound, independent science.”
Congressman Conyers said,

“The science is clear. These pesticides are a severe risk to Americans’ health and pose an equally concerning risk to our food supply. It appears that the EPA, an agency long tasked with protecting Americans’ food, air and water, has spent more time listening to chemical companies and industry interests rather than its own scientists and the American people. I call on Mr. Pruitt to carefully evaluate the mission of the EPA and return to keeping Americans, and our food supply, safe.” “The Trump administration has ignored basic science time and time again, and the decision to reverse the ban on this dangerous pesticide is yet another glaring example,” said Blumenauer. “Our constituents demand answers, and the EPA has a responsibility to protect the health of the American people. The administration should reverse course on its decision and demonstrate that it is capable of making objective, science-based decisions.”