Tell Obama to Just Say "No" to Pesticides!

spring weather & pesticides
Originally uploaded by gribley.

After all the sweetness of the strawberries, I have to remember that the growers most certainly used chemical fertilizers to grow them, which means the plants are most likely not strong enough to combat pests on their own. So they must have used pesticides, too, because I haven't seen them out in the field with a hoe to hack out weeds, or picking off insects and grubs with their fingers.

Which means we have to be very careful with what pesticides are permitted in this country. We don't want a lovely bowl of strawberries to cause cancer, or birth defects in the children of farm workers!

Therefore the Pesticide Action Network and Beyond Pesticides would really appreciate it if you would sign onto their letter to President-elect Obama: Transforming Government's Approach to Regulating Pesticides to Protect Public Health and the Environment. (You have to read/scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to do so. )

Enclosed for your consideration are priorities for change within key areas of your Agenda for America – priorities that we imagine could be embraced within the first 100 days of your administration. We are pleased to note that many of our priorities overlap with yours, and offer this analysis in an effort to proactively assist in developing an agenda for change in America that prioritizes:

• Public and environmental health;
• A green and fair economy;
• Environmental protection;
• Scientific integrity;
• Transparency and accountability.

Because of the widespread and unnecessary use of over 5 billion total pounds of pesticides a year, hazardous chemicals invade our lives through the contamination and poisoning of our bodies, air, land, water, food and the built environment.

Recommendations affecting the hazardous production, transportation, use and disposal of hazardous pesticides intersect with numerous federal agencies, including EPA, FDA, USDA and DOJ. It is our goal that the Obama administration embraces both improved chemical restrictions and policies for advancing practices that avoid reliance upon these toxic technologies altogether, thereby eliminating their hazards to public health, workplace conditions and the environment, and their contribution to global climate change.

So you have something positive to do, to encourage Obama in his positive efforts to make American (and the world) the better place we all are looking forward to!