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Dow Chemical Donates $1 Million to Trump, Asks Administration to Ignore Pesticide Study

The fact that C.E.O. Andrew Liveris is a close adviser to Donald Trump can’t hurt.

DOW CHEMICAL DONATES $1 MILLION TO TRUMP, ASKS ADMINISTRATION TO IGNORE PESTICIDE STUDY

The fact that C.E.O. Andrew Liveris is a close adviser to Donald Trump can’t hurt.

Chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion are a group of pesticides that are a big money-maker for Dow Chemical, with the company selling approximately 5 million pounds of chlorpyrifos in the U.S. each year, according to the Associated Press. 

Dow Chemical, however, has a small problem on its hands, and it’s not the fact that the pesticide was “originally derived from a nerve gas developed by Nazi Germany,” per the AP, though that’s certainly not great for marketing materials. In this case, it’s the fact that studies by federal scientists have found that chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion are harmful to almost 1,800 “critically threatened or endangered species.” 

Historically, groups like the Environmental Protection Agency would want to avoid killing frogs, fish, birds, mammals, and plants, which is why the regulator and two others that it works with to enforce the Endangered Species Act are reportedly “close to issuing findings expected to result in new limits on how and where the highly toxic pesticides can be used,” the AP reports.

Luckily for Dow, the E.P.A. is now run by climate-change skeptic and general enemy of living things Scott Pruitt, who last month said he would reverse “an Obama-era effort to bar the use of Dow's chlorpyrifos pesticide on food after recent peer-reviewed studies found that even tiny levels of exposure could hinder the development of children's brains.” Plus, Dow Chemical C.E.O. Andrew Liveris is good buddies with President Donald Trump. So, you can see how the company, which the AP reports also spent $13.6 million on lobbying last year, might feel like it is in the clear.

According to the AP, lawyers representing Dow and two other companies that manufacture the pesticides in question (known as organophosphates) have sent letters to the heads of the E.P.A, the Department of Commerce, and the Fish and Wildlife Service, asking them to “set aside” the results of the studies, claiming that they are “fundamentally flawed.” Not surprisingly, the scientists hired by Dow “to produce a lengthy rebuttal to the government studies” have come up with diverging results.

In addition to Pruitt’s long history of, per the AP, aligning “himself in legal disputes with the interests of executives and corporations,” Dow has another reason to be hopeful the government will conveniently ignore any lingering concerns about killing off entire species: Andrew Liveris is a close adviser to Donald Trump who was literally standing next to the president in February when he signed an executive order “mandating the creation of task forces at federal agencies to roll back government regulations.”

Dow also donated $1 million to underwrite Trump’s inaugural festivities, the AP reports, but God help the person who dares to wonder aloud if the check was some sort of an attempt to curry favor with the administration. As Rachelle Schikorra, Dow’s director of public affairs, told the AP, any such suggestion is “completely off the mark.”

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/04/dow-chemical-endangered-species?fbclid=IwAR0S_ALfWeI_OwO8mZpm1nKDlvrpswU7jUe41ruERCQK509LoTa3eJar7zQ

When Government No Longer Protects

29 June 17 Need to Pull a Rabbit From the Hat Today! We are down to the last two days of the month and we are still far behind where we normally would be and more importantly where we need to be. Really need a little movement here. Marc Ash Founder, Reader Supported News Sure, I'll make a donation! Update My Monthly Donation Become a Fan of RSN on Facebook and Twitter If you would prefer to send a check: Reader Supported News PO Box 2043 Citrus Hts CA 95611

EPA Chief Met With Dow Chemical CEO Before Deciding Not to Ban Toxic Pesticide 
Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch 
Chow writes: "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt met with Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris before deciding to reverse an earlier EPA decision to ban the company's toxic and widely used pesticide, chlorpyrifos." 
READ MORE

Dow CEO Andrew Liveris and President Donald Trump at the White House. (photo: Reuters)

.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt met with Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris before deciding to reverse an earlier EPA decision to ban the company's toxic and widely used pesticide, chlorpyrifos.

According to records obtained by the Associated Press, the EPA boss met with Liveris for about 30 minutes at a Houston hotel on March 9. Later that month, Pruitt announced that he would no longer pursue a ban on chlorpyrifos from being used on food, ignoring his agency's own review that even small amounts of the pesticide could impact fetus and infant brain development.

But EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman insisted to the AP that Pruitt and Liveris were only "briefly introduced" at the energy industry conference where both men were featured speakers.

"They did not discuss chlorpyrifos," the spokeswoman said. "During the same trip he also met with the Canadian minister of natural resources, and CEOs and executives from other companies attending the trade show."

According to the AP, Pruitt also attended a larger group meeting with two other Dow executives, but Bowman said they did not discuss the pesticide.

The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), Pesticide Action Network and Earthjustice sued the EPA just days after Pruitt's decision to reverse the EPA's proposed ban on chlorpyrifos.

"The move adds to the Trump administration's growing roster of decisions informed by 'alternative facts,'" the NRDC's Nicole Greenfield wrote in a blog post about the lawsuit. "Nearly two decades' worth of scientific studies—including analyses by Pruitt's own agency—have documented the numerous risks this bug-killer poses to children and pregnant women."

The American Academy of Pediatrics also sent a letter to Pruitt on Tuesday, urging the EPA to ban the pesticide and called the agency's decision to allow its use a threat to children's health.

A lot has been reported about Dow's seemingly close ties with Trump. The company donated $1 million to the presidential inauguration. Additionally, Liveris leads President Trump's advisory council on manufacturing. In February, Liveris received Trump's pen after he signed the "Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda" executive order aimed at eliminating regulations that the administration claims are damaging to the U.S. economy, but some worry that the measure will roll back critical environmental protections.

The Associated Press reported in April that Dow is pressuring the Trump administration to throw out a 10,000-page government risk study on three pesticides under review, including chlorpyrifos. The government scientists found that chlorpyrifos is "likely to adversely affect" 1,778 of the 1,835 animals and plants in its study.

According to the Sierra Club, this is just the latest in a long list of examples of the Trump administration working with corporate polluters before reversing public safeguards to protect families from corporate negligence:

• In February, automakers sent a letter to Pruitt and Trump asking for lighter fuel economy standards. In March,Donald Trump announced a review of U.S. vehicle fuel-efficiency standards from 2022-2025 put in place by the Obama administration, effectively reopening a process the Obama administration had ended ahead of an April 2018 deadline. This review goes against the massive public support for cleaner, more fuel efficient cars.


• In his first few weeks in office, Pruitt met with executives of fossil fuel and energy companies numerous times. Since these meetings the Trump administration has:


• Rolled back methane safeguards, a move highly praised by oil and gas executives who now have a free pass to pollute.


• Gutted the clean water rule, long pushed for and praised by business and industry execs who are able to gain financially from the dangerous deregulation.


• Touted an anti environmental and pro-polluter agenda from a coal mine.


• Left the Paris Climate Agreement, a move opposed by much of the American public, but supported by coal executives.

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/44378-epa-chief-met-with-dow-chemical-ceo-before-deciding-not-to-ban-toxic-pesticide

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WHAT ARE WE DOING....?

This time of year, my garden should be filled with BEES pollinating...just going about their business, collecting nectar for winter and to feed the brood.....while we don't spray, there is a noticeable decline.

Instead of hearing the HUM of the BEES going about their tasks....there are very few.

What are we doing to our children....and ourselves?

Please add your name below.




As we speak, two multinational chemical companies have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to let them ramp up the use of toxic pesticides that can decimate the bee population.

We can't let that happen. Please sign the petition from Daily Kos and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) telling the the EPA not to cave to big chemical companies and save bees from toxic pesticides.

Keep fighting,
Chris Bowers, Daily Kos

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Date: July 06, 2014 2:00 PM
From: Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos
Subject: Quick signature needed: Obama’s EPA cannot cave to pesticide companies

Frank, join Daily Kos and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in pressuring the EPA to save the bees from toxic pesticides. Click here to sign.

Two multinational chemical companies—Dow Chemical and Syngenta—have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to allow them to ramp up the use of two pesticides that could have deadly consequences for bees.

Honeybees, native bees and other pollinators are vital to maintaining our food supply—and a mass extinction could lead to huge crop failure.

Bee populations have plunged in recent years, and one big reason is the skyrocketing use of a new class of dangerous pesticides called neonicotinoids. The two pesticides in question—thiamethoxam and sulfoxaflor—are part of this group.

The EPA is poised to rubberstamp the corporate requests without fully evaluating the harm these pesticides will do to bees, unless we take action now.

Join Daily Kos and the NRDC in demanding that EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy say NO to the expanded use of these pesticides.

Keep fighting,
Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos


PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME:


Chemical giants Dow and Syngenta want to expand the use of sulfoxaflor and thiamethoxam—two pesticides that are known to be highly toxic to bees.

Bee populations have plunged in recent years. Dangerous new neonicotinoid pesticides like sulfoxaflor and thiamethoxam are largely to blame.

Instead of doing the right thing and restricting the use of these pesticides, the EPA is poised to rubberstamp industry requests to make them even more pervasive without fully evaluating the harm they will do to bees.

Sign the petition to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy: Tell the EPA to stand up to Dow and Syngenta by saying NO to expanding the use of neonicotinoids.

Petition Text

Our Message to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy

I urge you to reject Dow and Syngenta's recent applications to expand the use of two pesticides, sulfoxaflor and thiamethoxam, which could have deadly consequences for bees. Honeybee and native bee populations are already in decline nationwide, and neonicotinoid pesticides like these two are playing a major role in that fall-off. Expanding the use of these two chemicals will exacerbate this already dire crisis.
Your agency has acknowledged that these pesticides are "highly toxic" to bees. Yet the agency has also admitted that it has not done a thorough evaluation of the potential impacts of these two chemicals on bees. You should not authorize their increased use without this critical information.
We rely on bees to pollinate millions of acres of crops and support natural ecosystems. We cannot allow our food supply to be jeopardized simply because of your agency's failure to properly assess the risks of this reckless proposal before moving forward. Please stand up to Dow and Syngenta by rejecting their applications and direct your agency to complete a thorough evaluation of the true impacts of these chemicals on bees. Thank you.