A conversation with Seattle
Josh: I often think that documentaries have a bit of a leg-up in the festival circuit. I’m pretty bad about seeing them during the year, so that’s a novelty in and of itself. And it’s usually a lot easier to tell whether the topic (if not the execution) will be interesting from the capsule description. But More than Honey exceeded expectations on both fronts — it was both fascinating and beautifully executed. Continue reading SIFF 2013: What We Saw (Part 2)
Though the EU just voted to restrict the use of neonicotinoid pesticides for two years until their safety could be proved, Jim Jones, acting assistant administrator for chemical safety and pollution prevention, was quoted in the New York Times saying: “At E.P.A. we let science drive the outcome of decision making,” then noting the cost of a ban. Continue reading While EU Acts, EPA Blows Smoke in Bee Death Report
With the EU recommending a limited ban — effective as early as July 1, 2013 — on the class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, the question becomes whether the U.S.’s EPA, which began a review of their use in 2012, will take the EU’s action as precedent. Continue reading EU May Ban Neonicotinoids for Bees — Will EPA Act Next?
Bayer CropScience took a little time off from “promoting bee health” to dispute the findings, claiming that the dosage was excessive, but a new Harvard study contradicts them. Reports Scientific American: “The authors of the Harvard-based paper tried a variety of doses (ranging from 20 micrograms of insecticide per kilogram of corn syrup to 200 micrograms), all of which led to colony deaths.” Continue reading Bee-lieve the Growing Buzz About Harm From Neonicotinoids
Basically, every year a study comes out that puts very tenuous blame on cell phones, to the point that I almost suspect they’re funded by frontrunner bee-apocalypse culprit, neonicotinoid pesticide manufacturers. The evidence against pesticides–that they work–is far more substantive.
It may surprise you to learn, given the headlines, that this most recent study’s results, published in the beekeeper journal Apidologie, have nothing at all to do with bee deaths. Continue reading Bees, Rest of Planet Annoyed by Your Cell Phone Call