Bush Insulates Pesticide Makers from Lawsuits

Words fail me to describe how evil the Bush administration has
become for the United States and the world.

Tim Jones

DAILY GRIST
06 Oct 2003
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

CAVEAT FARMER

Bush Insulates Pesticide Makers from Lawsuits

The Bush administration is doing a big favor for pesticide
manufacturers by instituting a new policy that will curb farmers'
ability to sue the companies if their products don't work as
promised.  In a significant policy reversal, the U.S. EPA has
reinterpreted a federal law and now claims that it bars suits against
chemical manufacturers when their pesticides or herbicides harm a
crop they are supposed to protect or fail to eradicate an insect or
blight.  Tom Buis of the National Farmers Union worries that the
shift could leave farmers without legal recourse even if their
harvests are destroyed.  "[I]f a pesticide not only doesn't do what
it says it's supposed to do, but also kills your crop, that could
cost you a year's income," said Buis.  The policy shift could also
make it more difficult to sue pesticide makers when their products
cause sickness or environmental damage.  It "could really be
disastrous for public health," said Erik Olson of the Natural
Resources Defense Council.

straight to the source:  USA Today, Peter Eisler, 06 Oct 2003
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1578>

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SUIT TO KILL
California and Other States to Sue EPA over Greenhouse Gases

California intends to sue the U.S. EPA over the Bush administration's
recent decision that the agency doesn't have the authority to
regulate emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change,
Gov. Gray Davis (D) announced on Friday.  Nine other states,
including Illinois, New York, and Washington, are expected to join
the suit, which argues that the EPA should have the power to regulate
carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases under the federal Clean
Air Act.  Last year, California passed the nation's first law aimed
at reining in CO2 emissions from cars, and clean-air advocates worry
that the administration's decision could undermine that law.  "If the
United States is ever going to regulate greenhouse gases, it will
start with a victory in this lawsuit," said David Bookbinder of the
Sierra Club, which is backing the suit.

straight to the source:  New York Times, Danny Hakim, 04 Oct 2003
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1581>

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DETROIT YUCK CITY
Illegal Dumping Pushes Up Toxic Contamination in Great Lakes

Toxic pollution in Great Lakes waterways has jumped 25 percent over
the past six years, thanks at least in part to rampant illegal
discharges from large industrial facilities and sewer plants.
Meanwhile, government enforcement efforts on both the national and
state levels are stagnating, meaning that most of the violators don't
get punished.  In Michigan, for example, the state Department of
Environmental Quality now has only five employees working on
enforcement of water laws -- not nearly enough to catch all the
violators.  "You're looking at people violating limits sometimes by
1,000 percent and they're doing it for years and years," said Eric
Schaeffer, former head of the EPA's enforcement division and now
director of the Rockefeller Family Fund's Environmental Integrity
Project.  "It threatens the whole Clean Water Act."

straight to the source:  Detroit News, Brad Heath, 05 Oct 2003
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1577>

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