New York Needs Hochul to Sign Birds and Bees Protection Act
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
At 90, I’m old enough to remember when Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” came out in 1962. The book galvanized public opinion about the harm that the pesticide DDT was causing to birds. Bald eagles in particular were critically endangered because DDT was persistent in the food chain. DDT, formerly common, was subsequently banned.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has a consequential law on her desk, the Birds and Bees Protection Act, that would restrict a newer but equally dangerous class of insecticides, neonicotinoids or neonics. The bill was passed by the Assembly and state Senate, but if Gov. Hochul doesn’t sign it by Dec. 31, its passage by the legislature is void.
Neonics are neurotoxins that are linked to the mass loss of birds and the alarming decline of bees and other pollinators. The law would ban application of neonics to the seeds of commodity crops like corn and soybeans, from which they are absorbed throughout the plant all the way to its flower and pollen. That is bad enough, but 95 percent of the insecticide remains in the soil. Today, neonics extensively contaminate New York plants, soil and water. They are already banned in Europe and restricted in Canada.
There are other, safer ways to control aphids and their ilk. We need birds, we need bees. We don’t need poisoned water, species extinctions and human health impacts. This is a moment akin to banning DDT.
Take a moment to urge Gov. Hochul to sign the Birds and Bees Protection Act – now.
Martin Smolin
Sleepy Hollow
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