Last week, Bluestem reported that Rep [Torkelson] claims there's no scientific evidence barring pollinator-lethal pesticides helps pollinators, while pointing out that one of the world's top pollinator scientists had discussed the need for non-pesticide soaked habitat in order to detox after feeding on planted crops.
In the Star Tribune article, In win for beekeepers, Minnesota links insecticide to damaged hives, Josephine Marcotty reports:
In the first test of a landmark environmental law, Minnesota has compensated two beekeepers whose hives were severely damaged last spring by toxic dust that drifted off the fields of a neighbor planting corn.
Investigators from the state Department of Agriculture confirmed, in effect, what beekeepers have been saying for years: Even when used according to law, the most widely used class of insecticides in the world are acutely toxic to honeybees under routine circumstances.
Even more importantly, said state Sen. Rick Hansen, the finding marks a precedent in the ongoing national fight over the controversial group of insecticides called neonicotinoids, which have been implicated in the decline of bees and other wild pollinating insects.
“This is the first action of any state, a finding of fact, that neonicotinoids are harmful to bees,” said Hansen, who sponsored the 2014 law that created the compensation system. “Once you have a state compensating people for a loss, it’s real.”
While this is a win for the beekeepers, we suspect that bees and wild pollinators in Minnesota will continue to bear the costs of Representative Paul Torkelson's addiction to lethal farm chemicals. The Hanska Republican insists--along with much of his caucus--that managers charged with the care of wildlife habitat being purchased with taxpayer dollars (dedicated to creating, preserving and protecting wildlife) should be able to use pollinator-lethal insecticides on those lands.
There's a lot of science-denying going around in that caucus in the House Environment committee, as MPR's Elizabeth Dunbar reported in House panel rejects U of M research projects.
Photo: Bees hibernating in a hive.
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If left unchecked Republicans will destroy the planet!
Posted by: Nick | Mar 22, 2016 at 04:30 AM