We Can’t Afford Another 15 Years of This
June 6, 2019 | Ronnie Cummins
Organic Consumers Association
On April 23, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally got around to issuing its latest (phony) review of glyphosate.
What did the EPA decide? That the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller “poses no public health risk.”
Every 15 years, the EPA is supposed to review the latest science on glyphosate, then issue a determination on whether this toxic chemical should be re-approved for another 15 years.
The last deadline for a new review of glyphosate was December 2015. But that deadline came and went with no word—probably because in March 2015, the World Health Organization inconveniently announced that glyphosate is a “probable human carcinogen.”
Three-and-a-half years past the 2015 deadline, the agency that’s supposed to protect your health came out with its bold “no risk to public health” claim.
Now the public has until July 5 to comment on the EPA’s so-called scientific review of this deadly herbicide.
We think “comments” aren’t enough.
That’s why we’re collaborating with our allies to storm the EPA and demand the agency do what it should have done decades ago: Ban glyphosate!
The EPA’s loyalty to Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) is mind-blowing.
You’ve probably been following the trials of people who used Roundup and later developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a potentially fatal cancer that was once rare, but is now much more common.
So you probably know that so far, three separate juries (thousands more lawsuits are still to come) have weighed the evidence against Monsanto—and sided with the victims.
Evidence uncovered during these early trials reveals that Monsanto has always known about Roundup’s cancer-causing potential.
That’s bad enough. This is even worse: Internal memos suggest that some EPA officials actually colluded with Monsanto to hide the truth about Roundup and cancer from consumers and farmers.
The EPA has chosen to ignore the evidence presented at these trials.
The EPA, which is supposed to work for you, has chosen to reject nearly two decades’ worth of newer independent, peer-reviewed studies linking glyphosate to a long list of health and environmental issues.
And all you’re allowed to do is “comment?” While your water is polluted, your food is contaminated and the soil we all depend on is degraded beyond repair?
Hardly a day goes by that I’m not reminded of the words of Jane Goodall:
“Someday we shall look back on this dark era of agriculture and shake our heads. How could we have ever believed that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons?”
I keep waiting for that day. The day when our regulatory agencies come to their senses and banish forever the poisons from our food system.
In the meantime, with your help, we’ll keep fighting back.