Just Say "No" to Pesticides!

Central Valley
Originally uploaded by NC3D.

The Clean Air Act hasn't always been heeded as intended. Usually my present state of California has done what it could because of our enormous pollution problems, which are partly caused by our large population, and industrial and agricultural base, partly caused by inconvenient geography, which boxes in smog with mountain ranges in places like the "Inland Empire" east of Los Angeles, where I live, and in our agricultural Central Valley, where you can see the low-lying smog in the picture.

But California's Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) evidently hasn't been talking with the Air Quality Management Districts (AQMD) because the draft regulations to address pesticides that form smog (giving the Central Valley California's worst air quality, so that you usually cannot see the High Sierra mountain range which borders it to the East.)

So Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) sent out an email asking us to voice our "opposition in writing by Jan 15th and in person at the public hearings January 12th in Bakersfield and January 14th in Sacramento."

Take Action Now! Demand DPR comply fully with the Clean Air Act by reducing the use of smog-forming pesticides.
Pesticides are one of the largest contributors to smog in the San Joaquin Valley and Ventura County and a major contributor in the Southeast Desert, which includes the Coachella Valley. DPR should prioritize pesticide use reduction because pesticides are highly toxic, causing many mass farm worker and community poisonings, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) from pesticides contribute to smog and fine particulate matter formation. The only guaranteed way to reduce smog-forming, particulate matter-forming, and toxic emissions from pesticides is to reduce pesticide use.

So there you are - all three posts today say "NO!" Please read all three, sign the petitions and do whatever else you can to protect us and our environment. I will try to find something positive for my next post!