Posted on 06/21/2014 4:07:51 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
President Obama on Friday announced plans to save endangered honey bees and other pollinators, for the first time ordering a probe into new types of pesticides that some local governments and 15 European Union nations have restricted or banned.
The long-awaited plan creates a “Pollinator Health Task Force” that has 180 days to come up with a plan to save bees, butterflies and other pollinators. The goal is to rid fields of harmful pesticides while planting food for the bugs, even on military bases an along railroad tracks. Virtually every Cabinet department will be included on the task force.
A key victory for the honey bee industry is Obama’s mention of “neonicotinoids,” a new type of pesticide product that many blame for the shocking loss of bees in the epidemic called “colony collapse disorder.”
In the six-page presidential memo, the White House singled out what it wants the Environmental Protection Agency to do:
“The Environmental Protection Agency shall assess the effect of pesticides, including neonicotinoids, on bee and other pollinator health and take action, as appropriate, to protect pollinators; engage state and tribal environmental, agricultural, and wildlife agencies in the development of state and tribal pollinator protection plans; encourage the incorporation of pollinator protection and habitat planting activities into green infrastructure and Superfund projects; and expedite review of registration applications for new products targeting pests harmful to pollinators.”
Some members of the EU voted last year to restrict the use of pesticides that include neuroactive neonicotinoid chemicals. Three are in use: clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiametoxam.
Pollinators, mostly bees, are responsible for much of what grows on farms.
In a related move, the Agriculture Department said it would spend $8 million to establish new habitats for honey bees in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
"American agricultural production relies on having a healthy honey bee population," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "In recent years, factors such as diseases, parasites, pesticides or habitat loss have contributed to a significant decline in the honey bee population. This $8 million is part of the administration's ongoing strategy to reverse these trends and establish more plant habitat on Conservation Reserve Program lands to restore the bee population."
Now we know why they dropped the “colony collapse” meme. They switched targets.
#Bring back our bees.
Do you mean those roundup-ready GMO crops? Obama won’t touch those.
like a laser.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, and were known by various names (disappearing disease, spring dwindle, May disease, autumn collapse, and fall dwindle disease),[1] the syndrome was renamed colony collapse disorder in late 2006[2] in conjunction with a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honeybee colonies in North America.[3] European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain,[4] and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree[5] while the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%.[6]
Colony collapse is significant economically because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by European honey bees. According to the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the worth of global crops with honeybee’s pollination was estimated to be close to $200 billion in 2005.[7] Shortages of bees in the US have increased the cost to farmers renting them for pollination services by up to 20%.[8]
The mechanisms of CCD and the reasons for its increasing prevalence remain unclear, but many possible causes have been proposed: pesticides, primarily neonicotinoids; infections with Varroa and Acarapis mites; malnutrition; various pathogens; genetic factors; immunodeficiencies; loss of habitat; changing beekeeping practices; or a combination of factors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder
This has been studied for several years with no clear solution. How is Obama’s Marxist dreamteam going to figure it out in 180 days? And he says we don’t believe in science. This is putting politics in front of science.
On the surface, I'd almost have to agree.
But considering it's something obama is behind and for, I just can't shake the creeping suspicion that this is going to backfire in a way that we can't even comprehend yet.
Exactly. The rumor of the bees demise was greatly exaggerated by the leftist tree huggers. Just goes to show the level of influence that the leftist fringe element are beginning to have. With a lefty in charge and a complicit media, all things are possible.
Hey, how are the kardashians?
This is simply yet another reason being given for the EPA to assume more power—more power to destroy anything that they FALSELY assign some potion of the cause of the clooapse.
SO, you would probably be ecstatic at 3 dollar a gallon gas?
My point is that they get us used to the worst case scenario, (6 dollar a gallon gas, bees disappearing etc), then when they do something, it’s all good. So we say, man I’m glad gas went down to 3.50 a gallon. I’m glad the government is doing something about declining bee populations etc etc and so forth.
Bee and bat populations are not things that executive orders should be used for. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this should have gone through congress.
That too
I wonder how many beekeepers there are in America these days.
When I was a kid there were dozens of beekeepers in my township alone. Now I only know of a couple in the county. The old veggie farmer down the road from me has about 6 hives for pollinating his squash and pumpkins. He keeps a little honey for himself but feeds the rest to his hogs. He says he can’t sell it due to government regulations and competition with foreign imports. Back in the 50s he had more than 30 hives.
The crop dusters were spraying with encapsulated poison. The worker bees would take the poison back to the hives and it would decimate the hive. Sometimes killing the existing queen.
It was very disheartening to say the least.
Some of the hives would not recuperate before winter and would die out. It would have a devastating impact on the honey and bee population. He sold bees as well as honey.
I sympathize with the bee keepers. The bees provide pollination for the farmers and the farmers, by spraying, decimate the hives of the bee keepers.
It's very sad from the bee keepers perspective.
There you go again with that fact stuff.
yep - someone must have advised him he’s gotta do SOMEthing positive - and they figure this is as benign and safe.
Remains to be seen if it’s honest - or a double-blind to impede those who may be working to REALLY stop the poisoning of our foods - that kill the bees = without which, we will have no food.
I smell duplicity - as “O” and crowd are too far up Monsanto’s nether region to outwardly buck them.
ahahaha
This ‘community organizer’ knows about science about as in depth as he knows economics.
He does seem to do totalitarian well
This from the guy who has flies on his face and mice running around his feet.
Thanks for the ping!
Destroyed out military - Check
Destroyed our Manufacturing Base - Check
Swarms of Illegals we cannot support swarming in - Check
Creating economic Chaos - Check
Lowering food production to “save” the Bees - check
Lots of Problems either being created or being made worse...
Look forward to his upcoming Reaction and Solution Phases....
I don’t get your point at all.
Did you really read my post carefully?
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