Bee scientists SILENCED 11JAN16

 
BEES AND BUTTERFLIES are dying in alarming numbers and more and more scientific research is showing pesticides are to blame. Not surprising, the big chemical companies are pressuring government agencies in the U.S. and U.K., especially the USDA / U.S. Department of Agriculture, to silence scientist and prevent their research from being made public. Jonathan Lundgren is fighting his suspension from the USDA because he refused to be silenced, and his whistleblower court case has been approved to move to trial. This from +Us @ SumOfUs .....
One of the world's top bee scientists has been suspended for publishing research on bee-killing pesticides.
Jonathan Lundgren was an award-winning scientist for 11 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But once he started publishing data linking pesticides to bee and butterfly die-offs, he was ordered to stop talking.
When he refused, he was suspended.
Now Jonathan is fighting back. He's filed a whistleblower complaint to make sure that corporations can’t get away with gagging science.
Will you chip in $25 to help make sure that Jonathan Lundgren and other bee scientists can speak the truth without harassment?
Yes, I'll chip in $25 to help stop the censorship of bee science.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen corporate-influenced governments trying to silence bee scientists.
In the U.K., the government silenced scientists who disagreed with a decision to lift a ban on bee-killing pesticides. Big Ag lobbyists wanted the ban lifted, but when the scientists wouldn't go along with it, the government simply told them not to publish their views.
But this time the corporations picked on the wrong scientist. Jonathan Lundgren is refusing to back down.
Now a judge has ruled that Jonathan's whistleblower complaint may go forward -- meaning he has a real chance of getting justice and showing how corporations are exerting undue influence over government research.
Will you chip in $25 to help fight back?
Yes, I'll chip in $25 to help stop government censorship of bee scientists.
Thanks for all you do,
Carys, Jon, and the team at SumOfUs

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More information:
Suspended USDA researcher alleges agency tried to block his research into harmful effects of pesticides on bees, butterflies,The Washington Post, October 28, 2015
UK government gags advisers in bees and pesticides row, The Guardian, July 17, 2015
Is the USDA Silencing Scientists?, The Atlantic, November 3, 2015


SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

TAKE ACTION: Ban a widely used neurotoxic pesticide (chlorpyrifos) now! 8OKT15

 
FROM +Earthjustice , a petition to ban a pesticide that is a serious threat, not only to the farm workers and their children but to the communities throughout farm country, and to via the food on our tables. The massive petition campaigns by Earthjustice and many other organizations to ban  the toxic pesticide killing off bees was successful, and we can win this fight too. Hope you will sign and share.....

TAKE ACTION! Ban a widely used neurotoxic pesticide now TAKE ACTION

Speak up to protect farmworkers, their children, and agricultural communities. Let’s ban chlorpyrifos once and for all.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is pulling a toxic pesticide harmful to bees off the market, following a recent court order. Now a separate court order could lead to a ban of a widely used pesticide that’s incredibly harmful to people. Tell the EPA to ban all uses of chlorpyrifos now! The EPA has a court-ordered deadline of October 31 to respond to our request to ban chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic pesticide that poisons farmworkers and communities at alarming rates and causes serious brain and neurodevelopmental impairments in children. The agency has already found that extensive scientific evidence links chlorpyrifos to serious harm to children’s brains, including reduced IQ, loss of working memory, delayed development, and attention disorders. What’s worse is just how widely the pesticide is used—on everything from cotton and corn to almonds and fruit trees, including oranges and apples. We can’t let chlorpyrifos continue to poison people. Urge the EPA to ban this toxic pesticide now. After multiple Earthjustice lawsuits in recent years and letters from more than 150,000 individuals like you, the agency has finally started the process to ban this dangerous chemical. Let’s use this momentum to get chlorpyrifos banned once and for all. Sincerely,

Kari Birdseye Advocacy Communications Manager TAKE ACTION

Protect all communities from the toxic risks of chlorpyrifos

Dear Administrator McCarthy,

I urge the EPA to ban all uses of the neurotoxic insecticide chlorpyrifos, based on extensive evidence that it causes brain damage in children and poisons workers and their families when it's sprayed in the fields. The EPA banned household uses of chlorpyrifos in 2001 and now has a Halloween deadline to respond to a petition to ban all remaining uses.

After years of delay, the EPA has finally acknowledged the extensive evidence that exposure to chlorpyrifos damages development of children's brains. It's time to act to protect children from reduced IQ, delayed development, and attention disorders associated with this dangerous pesticide.

Despite acknowledging the brain impairments to children at low levels of exposure, the EPA is still considering allowing continued use of this pesticide, based on studies conducted by Dow Agrosciences, the company that manufactures chlorpyrifos. Dow has a serious conflict of interest and bases its studies on intentionally dosing people, despite serious ethical and scientific flaws in the studies pointed out in the EPA's peer reviews.

The EPA should take immediate steps to ban chlorpyrifos in order to:

* Protect children from learning and memory impairments
* Protect communities from pesticide poisonings when chlorpyrifos drifts off crops and into nearby neighborhoods and schools
* Prevent contamination of drinking water sources with chlorpyrifos
* Prevent worker poisonings

Action on this toxic chemical is long overdue. I urge you to ensure that your agency moves quickly to ban chlorpyrifos now.
Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.

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Federal Court Demands Decision on Toxic Pesticide 

 Protecting People from Pesticides