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The Bayer-Monsanto Protection Act on Steroids is Being Considered in the Halls of Congress.
What happens when agrichemical companies are sued en masse by people who have been harmed by exposure to their toxic pesticides? Big Ag lobbyists buddy up with politicians to try to pass bills that give the corporate poison pushers immunity.
Bayer-Monsanto has been hardest hit by pesticide litigation. Roundup lawsuits, which have been in the news for the last several years, are a huge financial drain. Approximately 167,000 lawsuits have been filed by people who claim they developed cancer, primarily non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, from their exposure to Roundup. The litigation has cost the company billions of dollars and its shares have plummeted, with a market capitalization now at less than half of what it paid to acquire Monsanto. And it’s not over by a long shot.
Bayer’s latest strategy is to pass laws, state by state, that take away farmers’ and other individuals’ ability to sue if they get sick. If passed, the bills would protect Bayer (and others) against claims it “failed to warn” people about the potential health harms of Roundup, or any other pesticide produced, as long as the product is labeled in accordance with EPA regulations. This means that Bayer’s cancer victims would no longer be given their day in court and no future lawsuits would be allowed.
But EPA rubber stamps pesticide approvals like there’s no tomorrow. The revolving door between industry and government agencies swings wide and often, and corruption at the EPA is well documented. Pesticide regulations and product label requirements are not protective of human or environmental health.
Bayer’s lobbying efforts have borne fruit in Iowa, Idaho, Missouri and Florida, with the introduction of immunity bills written by industry attorneys and pushed in state legislatures by bought and paid for politicians.
These dirty pesticide industry tricks are not limited to state-level bills.
Big Ag lobbying group, CropLife America, is using its political influence in Washington D.C. to ramp up its campaign to get language into the upcoming Farm Bill that would prohibit states from putting their own warning labels on pesticides, in addition to those required by the EPA.
Pending U.S. House and Senate bills include the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act (H.R. 4288), and the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act (EATS Act H.R. 4417/S. 2019). There are rumblings about efforts to sneak the bills into the Farm Bill or other major legislation. Other efforts have been underway to pre-empt additional pesticide regulations like restrictions and bans at the state level.
We’ve seen it all before. In the spring of 2013, Monsanto’s minions worked hard to pass the first Monsanto Protection Act, which would have allowed Monsanto and others to sell genetically modified seeds even when courts have blocked them from doing so.
The bill became law. But a groundswell of people across the U.S. contacted their Congresspeople, including many of you! By the fall of 2013, we succeeded in getting the Monsanto Protection Act repealed. People Power can and does work.
We all need to step up again to make sure these new Monsanto Protection Acts on steroids don’t see the light of day. Take action to make your voice heard!
The Bayer-Monsanto Protection Act on Steroids is Being Considered in the Halls of Congress.
What happens when agrichemical companies are sued en masse by people who have been harmed by exposure to their toxic pesticides? Big Ag lobbyists buddy up with politicians to try to pass bills that give the corporate poison pushers immunity.
Bayer-Monsanto has been hardest hit by pesticide litigation. Roundup lawsuits, which have been in the news for the last several years, are a huge financial drain. Approximately 167,000 lawsuits have been filed by people who claim they developed cancer, primarily non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, from their exposure to Roundup. The litigation has cost the company billions of dollars and its shares have plummeted, with a market capitalization now at less than half of what it paid to acquire Monsanto. And it’s not over by a long shot.
Bayer’s latest strategy is to pass laws, state by state, that take away farmers’ and other individuals’ ability to sue if they get sick. If passed, the bills would protect Bayer (and others) against claims it “failed to warn” people about the potential health harms of Roundup, or any other pesticide produced, as long as the product is labeled in accordance with EPA regulations. This means that Bayer’s cancer victims would no longer be given their day in court and no future lawsuits would be allowed.
But EPA rubber stamps pesticide approvals like there’s no tomorrow. The revolving door between industry and government agencies swings wide and often, and corruption at the EPA is well documented. Pesticide regulations and product label requirements are not protective of human or environmental health.
Bayer’s lobbying efforts have borne fruit in Iowa, Idaho, Missouri and Florida, with the introduction of immunity bills written by industry attorneys and pushed in state legislatures by bought and paid for politicians.
These dirty pesticide industry tricks are not limited to state-level bills.
Big Ag lobbying group, CropLife America, is using its political influence in Washington D.C. to ramp up its campaign to get language into the upcoming Farm Bill that would prohibit states from putting their own warning labels on pesticides, in addition to those required by the EPA.
Pending U.S. House and Senate bills include the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act (H.R. 4288), and the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act (EATS Act H.R. 4417/S. 2019). There are rumblings about efforts to sneak the bills into the Farm Bill or other major legislation. Other efforts have been underway to pre-empt additional pesticide regulations like restrictions and bans at the state level.
We’ve seen it all before. In the spring of 2013, Monsanto’s minions worked hard to pass the first Monsanto Protection Act, which would have allowed Monsanto and others to sell genetically modified seeds even when courts have blocked them from doing so.
The bill became law. But a groundswell of people across the U.S. contacted their Congresspeople, including many of you! By the fall of 2013, we succeeded in getting the Monsanto Protection Act repealed. People Power can and does work.
We all need to step up again to make sure these new Monsanto Protection Acts on steroids don’t see the light of day. Take action to make your voice heard!
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