Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson reports in As bees perish in large numbers, a search for causes and solutions:
A year ago, the Minnesota Legislature blocked a grant that [University of Minnesota associate professor of entomology Vera] Krischik received from the Minnesota Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources to study how treating trees for emerald ash borer is affecting bees.
This year the Legislature passed a pollinator habitat bill. It appropriates $150,000 a year to improve bee habitat and increase public awareness of pollinators. The legislation also requires state agencies to create a report on pollinator habitat and to establish a process for reviewing the safety of neonicotinoid insecticides.
The legislation reflects a growing public concern about bees, said Marla Spivak, a Distinguished McKnight Professor in the University of Minnesota's entomology department.
When Republicans controlled the Minnesota legislature, they blocked bee research. Thrown out of office, they chose to use the common-sense bee legislation--introduced by Ag Policy chair Jeanne Poppe (DFL-Austin), a Greater Minnesota lawmaker the Republicans had early on praised for her knowledge of farming (Mountain Lake Republican Rod Hamilton wanted her committee to handle all ag finance)--as the mascot for endless prattling about wasteful spending.
David Fitzsimmons' April 22 Legislative Update, Mary Franson's April 19 update, Pam Myhra's April 22 update, a May 8 letter in the Minnesota Daily from University of Minnesota College Republican Chair Susan Eckstein all singled out the bee habitat legislation as "wasteful."
Session Daily looked more closely at the bill in Beyond the Bill: For the birds, or for the bees?
There's more of the cheap sound bites from House minority leadership, then this curious exchange:
There is Republican support for legislation to help pollinator habitat. Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) co-sponsored HF595, which would direct DNR to establish criteria for a program to provide enhanced habitat for honey bees, and other pollinators, on state lands. But that language was not included in Wagenius’ bill. . . .
Language is one thing, but bees don't feed off words, however much those words might be fodder for Republican talking points. The article continues:
Wagenius said educating people about the importance of pollination and pollinators was a good idea and that, while she shared Torkelson’s concerns, her bill does more than the original legislation asked for, directing DNR to include growing plants that are good for pollinators throughout the growing season when doing restorations.
“You did not include any money,” Wagenius said. “We spent some money and we changed policy.”
Words are like honey, but money will actually sweeten the hive. Is that wasteful spending? Bees are an economic driver:
There is little debate regarding the importance of pollinators, and honey bees in particular, to the nation’s food supply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says bee pollination is responsible for more than $15 billion in increased crop value each year, and that “About one mouthful in three in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination.”
Bluestem believes it's better that the Republicans are left in the minority to whine about bee research, rather than controlling the legislature and blocking it outright, as their buzz is far worse than their sting these days.
Conservative dark money and the war on bees
Bluestem suspects that we'll see Republicans and other conservative political operatives circulating articles like these from the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) by think tank author and lobbyist Paul Driessen. For a review of the issues surrounding the industry-funded studies he cites, start with Monsanto, Bayer seek answers to bee losses.
For more on CFACT's own funding, check out PolluterWatch's posts about the group, which received 45 percent of its 2010 funding from Donors Trust.
Photo: A honeybee pollinating apple blossoms.
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