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May 29, 2008
- Indian Prime Minister announces Bhopal commission
- Call to ban carcinogenic pesticides in Europe
- FAO meeting draws protests
- Ban Bayer’s bee-killing pesticides
- Burger King bows to workers
- Need for fungicides questioned
- Clubbing the environment
- Liquor goes organic
Prime Minister announces Bhopal commission
New Delhi, May 29: “Smiles and hugs, signifying a part of the battle won, were exchanged Thursday among the Bhopal gas tragedy victims,” according to The Indian News, as demonstrators in the capitol were read a statement from the Prime Minister announcing a commission “to carry out medical, economic, social and environmental rehabilitation of the Bhopal gas victims.” The PM’s office also said India would pressure Dow Chemical to clean up the explosion site, and that clean water would be supplied to all residents. Campaign leaders responded that, “The Bhopal organizations are particularly happy that the Prime Minister has affirmed his government’s support on the issue of Dow Chemical’s liabilities for the toxic waste and ground water contamination in and around Union Carbide’s abandoned factory. They hope that the government will summon the political will to take appropriate legal action against Union Carbide and Dow Chemical for their crimes in India.”
Meanwhile, Business Week reports that, “The latest headache for Dow is a May 14 letter by shareholders to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Signed by nine investors, the letter says… ‘Up to $1 billion in Dow Chemical investment in India may be impeded’…. They’re worried about a $22 million deposit that India’s Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers wants from Dow to cover the cleanup pending a final determination of costs, which could be many times that amount. This follows a December, 2007, resolution by heavyweight shareholders, such as TIAA-CREF and the New York City Pension Funds, asking the company to address issues concerning Bhopal.” Satinath Sarangi, founder of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic, providing free health care to Bhopal victims, declared: “‘Our victory will be against Dow…. And we will win.'”
shareMORE – BBC video from New Delhi | Digg This
Call to ban carcinogenic pesticides in Europe
shareMORE – PAN Europe press release |
FAO meeting draws protests
shareMORE – BBC “The Cost of Food: Facts and Figures” |
Ban Bayer’s bee-killing pesticides
shareMORE – GuardianUK story |
Burger King bows to workers
When Burger King refused to follow McDonald’s and Taco Bell by paying its tomato pickers an additional penny-per-pound, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and TrueMajority delivered more than 80,000 petitions to Burger King’s Miami Headquarters and generated Congressional hearings as part of a broad campaign for farmworker justice. It worked. At a May 23 news conference on Capital Hill in Washington, D.C., CIW’s Lucas Benitez and Burger King Senior Vice President Amy Wagner signed an agreement “to work together to improve farmworker wages and working conditions.” The New York Times reports that the one-cent increase means that “for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, the workers will earn 77 cents, instead of 45 cents. That is a 71 percent increase” for workers who typically earn less than $12,000 a year. “The victory of the Immokalee workers is a significant step towards the advancement of human rights for farmworkers in the U.S,” said Chela Vazquez, PAN campaign coordinator. “It brings attention to the reality of most farmworkers who earn wages below the poverty line, lack health benefits and are the first to be exposed to highly toxic pesticides.”
shareMORE – The Nation, “Ending Slavery for Pennies” |
Need for fungicides questioned
Many farmers believe that using fungicides on drought-stressed corn can boost yields but a study of more than 100 corn plots suggests “the jury is still out.” Scientists from Ohio State’s Agricultural Research and Development Center discovered that “in some cases, an untreated plot out-yielded a treated plot by as many as 30 bushels per acre.” At the end of their two-year study, the Ohio State researchers concluded that differences in yields had nothing to do with the fungicide but were most likely “due to differences in soil properties between two strips” that may have been “confused with fungicide performance.”
shareMORE – Organic gardening fungicides |
Clubbing the environment
Pesticides applied to golf courses in central Ontario “may have an impact on aquatic organisms in adjacent watersheds,” according to Canada’s Water Information Center. Watersheds are particularly at risk in the Precambrian Shield region where golf course turf has been laid atop a local sandy base that “allows chemicals… to migrate into surrounding bodies of water.” The May 2 issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry reports that when semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were used to test for chemical contamination near two golf courses, they detected “a range of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.” Subsequent lab studies with medaka fish showed the combined concentrations were “toxic to early life stages of the fish.” Moreover, “elevated toxicity occurred… during periods of maximum fungicide application.” The scientists offered a blunt recommendation: “educating golfers to lower their cosmetic standards may be the best management strategy.”
shareMORE – “How Green is Golf?” (PDF) |
Liquor goes organic
shareMORE – Organic Wine Journal |
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