On Tuesday, Karin Winegar' hopeful commentary, Minnesota is poised to lead an environmental breakthrough; Pending bills would give communities local control over pesticides, safeguard protected wildlife areas and more, appeared on the Opinion page of the Star Tribune:
Now Minnesota stands on the cusp of passing some of the most enlightened legislation in the nation to protect human and ecosystem health. With a handful of bills slated to be heard in the Legislature, we may have reached a critical mass of scientific documentation, legislative smarts and public understanding that could result in a state that is cleaner, safer and healthier for people, pets and vital pollinators.
The pending bills give communities local control over pesticides (HF 718), set rules for pesticide-coated corn and soy seed to avoid contamination (HF 766), prohibit neonicotinoid systemic pesticides (aka "neonics") and chlorpyrifos (insecticide) in protected wildlife areas (HF 1210), impose a statewide ban on chlorpyrifos (HF 670) and increase pollinator-lethal insecticide fees with revenue allocated to pollinator research (HF 408).
Unfortunately, most of the Minnesota House bills she praised by number are nowhere to be found in HF1524, the omnibus ag bill, nor the DE amendment that will replace it. The Minnesota House Agriculture Finance and Policy will begin the walk through of the omnibus language at 1:00 p.m. today.
Two bills praised by Winegar are folded into HF1076, the House Environment and Natural Resources omnibus: HF718 (Samantha Vang) and HF1210 (Sydney Jordan).
Now, parts of Environmental and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Chair Rick Hansen's HF 766 appear to have made it into the Ag Omnibus, so Minnesotans may be able to breathe easier, knowing that left-over neonic-coated corn and soybean seeds aren't being used for making ethanol and such.
Why was the S. St. Paul DFLer and environmental stalwart bringing that to the table? Read the Xerces Society article, Ethanol Plant Causes Severe Pesticide Contamination in Nebraska, for background.
Speaking of bringing concerns to the table, there's a swarm of written testimony online at the Ag Committee's website.
Some examples: our friends in Montevideo write in CURE written testimony that they support the inclusion of the measures Winegar reviewed, though they don't cite her article.The Pollinator Friendly Alliance spells out its support for including the bills as well, in a letter with supporting references. The Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers want HF 408 in the bill, according to their letter.
There's more. Go read them. The agenda notes that these individuals are scheduled for public testimony:
- Lori D. Cox, Owner/Operator, Roots Return Heritage Farm, LLC
Allison O’Toole, CEO, Second Harvest Heartland
Sarah Foltz Jordan, Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist, Xerces Society
Tim Rudnicki, MN Biofuels Assn.
Stu Lourey, MN Farmers Union
We can expect that Minnesota Department of Agriculture staff (and possibly Commissioner Thom Petersen) will be available in the Zoom hearing to answer questions committee members may raise.
Readers can watch the hearing at 1:00 p.m. via HTV 1.
Related posts:
- House enviro omnibus bill centers "the people, & the land, & the water & the wildlife of MN"
- Pollinator protection bills heard today in the Minnesota House Agriculture Committee at 1PM
- MN House Republicans abjectly fail to protect pesticides from radical pollinator-hugging leftists
- Update: MNHouse GOP fails to replace pesticide industry interests over local control
Photo: A tractor spraying celery, via "Drift Happens" at Marcia Farm Country Kitchen. We used a picture from California so as to not point our little fingers at anyone in Minnesota.
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