Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Global Report on 'Neonicotinoid Disaster' a 'Wake-Up Call' to Save the Bees, say Groups

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Global Report on 'Neonicotinoid Disaster' a 'Wake-Up Call' to Save the Bees, say Groups

Click here to access article by Andrea Germanos from Common Dreams.

A widely used class of insecticides poses a threat on par with that of DDT and is harming ecosystems worldwide, a global team of scientists finds.

Their damning analysis based on 800 peer-reviewed reports, the Worldwide Integrated Assessment of the Impact of Systemic Pesticides on Biodiversity and Ecosystems (WIA), puts a spotlight on neonicotinoids, or "neonics," whose use they say poses a threat to global biodiversity.

According to Wikipedia, the pesticides are produced and marketed by some of the largest chemical corporations across the globe: Bayer, Dow Chemical, Sumitomo Chemical, Sygenta, etc.

See also this article from Friends of the Earth: "New tests find bee-killing pesticides in 51% of “bee-friendly” plants from garden centers across U.S. and Canada".