25/June/20

 

After decades of widespread use as company scientists played down research showing a link between the product and growing rates of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Monsanto parent company Bayer has agreed to pay up to $10 billion to settle claims that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, causes cancer. The number of active lawsuits against the Roundup purveyor recently numbered more than 50k. Zero Hedge

 

 

Commenting on the Bayer settlement (see above), US Right to Know reports that the plaintiffs included in the settlement are those signed with the law firms that have been leading the Roundup federal multi-district litigation (MDL) and include The Miller Firm of Virginia, the Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman firm of Los Angeles and the Andrus Wagstaff firm of Denver, Colorado. But Bob Phelps of GeneEthics in Australia commented that in his view, the deal is "a travesty of fairness and justice that offers little to Roundup's victims for their pain, suffering and terminal illnesses". US Right to Know and GeneEthics

 

 

Entomologist and farmer Bill Westrate has noticed that the insects that once blanketed his land were mostly gone. Over the years he has noted that farmers increasingly rely on sprays, GM crops and seed treatments. In the early 1990s, farmers began using glyphosate herbicide to dry out crops so they could be harvested sooner. The practice increased dramatically in the US Midwest as GMO “Roundup-ready” crops came online. Such crops could withstand being sprayed with Roundup, but surrounding weeds — which provided insects with food and habitat — were eradicated. The chemical has been implicated in the huge loss of monarch butterflies as milkweed plants — where monarchs lay eggs, then feed on them as caterpillars — nearly vanished from fields. Bridge

 

 

The Bee Informed Partnership has released its preliminary annual report on honey bee losses in the United States. Beekeepers recorded the second highest annual losses in history, including the highest summer losses ever. Jason Davidson, food and agriculture campaigner with Friends of the Earth issued the following statement in response: "These bee losses are as dire as they are predictable. It’s reprehensible that the EPA continues to ignore clear science linking neonicotinoids to devastating bee losses, giving pesticide companies a free pass to keep killing pollinators while raking in billions." Friends of the Earth