As the Minnesota legislature adjourned last week, I was left with mixed feelings of disappointment and hope for Minnesota pesticide legislation.Going into this legislative session PAN and our allies knew that we would be playing a tough game of defense. What we didn’t expect? While legislators had a field day attacking clean water, air, and pipeline protections, we witnessed some...
After years of strong scientific evidence and even stronger advocacy, this week European officials decided to make a temporary ban on three bee-harming pesticides permanent. This is very, very good news for bees in Europe.The decision reflects years of hard work by our PAN partners and many others. It also spotlights just how far behind we are in the U.S....
The Farm Bill debates are moving full steam ahead. Many pieces of the complex federal legislation introduced in the House will clearly be harmful to farmers, rural communities, workers and the environment. This blog is the first in a series from PAN focusing in on key issues of concern to those in our network.We’ll start with one of the most...
The last few weeks have seen encouraging momentum around the world in protecting bees and other pollinators from harmful pesticides. As bees are responsible for pollinating one out of every three bites of food we eat — making them key actors in our food system — this news is extremely welcome.Neonics no moreFor years, independent scientific research has shown that...
As the dust settles on Minnesota’s 2017 legislative session, the push for new pollinator protective policies has mostly wrapped up for the year. The outcome? In a year when many, many issues we care about saw major rollbacks, we managed to win a few small victories for pollinators — and hold back the worst proposals that would’ve gutted our state’s...
As Scott Pruitt takes over as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, it's clearer than ever that our federal decisionmakers won't be stepping up to protect communities — or our food system — from pesticides anytime soon. It's that much more important therefore for state and local leaders to do their part. Here in Minnesota, decisionmakers are beginning some important...