European governments approved Friday a proposal to widen a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides that studies have found are harmful to bees and other pollinators. The move completely bans the outdoor uses of three neonicotinoids, or neonics, across the European Union. They include Bayer CropScience’s imidacloprid, Syngenta’s thiamethoxam and clothianidin developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and […]
By Joe Sandler Clarke Bayer and Syngenta repeatedly asked scientists to give them raw data on a major new study which found that neonicotinoid pesticides cause harm to bees before it was published, according to emails obtained under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Both companies cited their position as co-funders to try to get information […]
Thousands of Kansas farmers claimed in district court in Kansas City on Monday that Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta rushed its genetically modified (GMO) corn seed to the U.S. market in 2010 before getting China’s approval for imports, which rejected shipments of the corn over GMO contamination and caused turmoil in commodity markets. As Bloomberg explains, […]
The majority of European Union governments voted against a proposal to authorize two new strains of genetically modified (GMO) maize today. The two varieties of maize, DuPont Pioneer’s 1507 and Syngenta’s Bt11, kill insects by producing its own pesticide and is also resistant Bayer’s glufosinate herbicide. If approved, the varieties would be the first new […]
One of the main concerns of the anti-GMO crowd is the supposed outsized influence that the biotech industry has over academia, science and public policy. For instance, you might have heard of the term “Monsanto shill“—which refer to professors, scientists and politicians who are paid to push certain products. 13 Academics Who Are Shills for […]
In the midst of three pending mega-mergers between agrichemical corporations, Donald Trump‘s recent pick of Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris to head the American Manufacturing Council signals yet more serious potential conflicts of interest in top government posts that could damage American farmers, the health of the public and the environment. The council serves as […]
Several U.S. state attorneys general will reportedly join the federal antitrust investigations of the pending multibillion dollar deals between DuPont and Dow Chemical Co and Bayer AG and Monsanto Co, respectively. An online petition to EU Commissioner for Competition: Margrethe Vestager, and Head of the antitrust Authority in the U.S. Department of Justice to block […]
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has added seven bee species to the endangered species list, a first for bees. Native to Hawaii, these yellow-faced bees are facing extinction due to habitat loss, wildfires and invasive species. Cantankerous Yellow-faced Bee photographed in Hawai’i County, Hawaii.SteveMlodinow / Flickr The tiny, solitary bees were once abundant […]
By Joe Sandler Clarke Chemical giants Bayer and Syngenta commissioned private studies which showed that their neonicotinoid pesticides can cause serious harm to bees, a Greenpeace investigation has uncovered. The revelations come with the UK set to decide its own policy on pesticide use once it leaves the EU. The UK lobbied against the current […]