If ever we needed to deploy surface-to-air missiles, this is the time. The San Francisco Bay Area is bracing for an unprecedented urban assault via aerial spraying of biochemical agents, ostensibly to contain the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM), a reckless experiment of questionable efficacy and benefit (except to Big Ag) and unquestionable harm - to human and animal health, ecological balance, property values, and our implied right to homeland security. The spraying, slated to begin August 1, 2008, is cause for alarm because it will impact not only local farms that supply our organic produce, but in fact will blanket our homes, playgrounds, schools - and yes, our heads, if we happen to be outdoors when the choppers fly by. The pesticide is designed to linger in the environment for quite some time, so we cannot entirely escape even if we managed to skip town for a few days. In the wake of a first round of spraying in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties in 2007, residents reported hundreds of cases of respiratory, dermatological, and endocrine-related afflictions. This foolhardy approach to eradicating LBAM is akin to invading a country to look for non-existent WMDs. There will be unintended consequences, beyond what our government is capable of fixing. At the end of the day, I don't want poison dumped upon my head, or yours. I call for the right to bear arms, metaphorically (or not), in order to shoot 'em down, metaphorically (or not); in any case, be up in arms about this!
Resources
- Great overview article, with links to various organizations dedicated to this issue: Plan To Spray Toxic Biological Chemicals Over San Francisco Announced
- The "LBAMspray" channel on YouTube
- VeganReader.com
1 comment:
I can sure sympathize. I used to live in Sonoma County, and in the summer of 2001 the Powers That Be kept threatening to spray pesticides everywhere. (They never did.) The wine industry has an iron grip on the County Board of Supervisors, and grape growers were scared to death of the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter. If one was found, the wine industry would yell "Jump!" and the local government would say "how high sir?" and the spraying would begin.
Fortunately it never happened but it was a pretty tense summer. Like you were saying, it's a health hazard, and organic farmers would lose their certification.
Good luck with this.
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