Lawmakers from Oregon took a stand earlier this week for pollinators.
Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well Reps. Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Environmental Protection Agency to approve new uses and lift restrictions for sulfoxaflor. Sulfoxaflor, also marketed as Isoclast, is a systemic insecticide that acts as an insect neurotoxin and is a member of a class of chemicals called sulfoximines, which act on the central nervous system of insects.
The pesticide poses a danger to pollinators, according to the agency.
“These new approved uses come at a time when colonies are dying at alarming rates,” the lawmakers, all Democrats, wrote in a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
“Esto es particularmente preocupante, dado que los polinizadores son un componente invaluable de la producción de alimentos de nuestra nación. Solo en Oregón, los cultivos especiales como los arándanos, las marionberry, las frambuesas y las peras dependen de las abejas y otros polinizadores”.
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