Pesticide Witch Trial in San Fran

A lawsuit against the EPA for failing to protect the children of farm workers has been filed in San Francisco, which lies within the jurisdiction of the most liberal federal appeals court, affectionately known as the "Ninth Circus Court of Appeals."

The government has failed to protect the children of farmworkers from the harmful effects of pesticides, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by farmworkers, environmentalists and public health advocates.

The suit alleges that the Environmental Protection Agency has ignored scientific evidence that children who grow up near farms face increased health risks from exposure to hazardous pesticides from air, soil, water, food and clothing.

The story lists among the plaintiffs: Pesticide Action Network, United Farm Workers of America, and Natural Resources Defense Council. Each one of these is mentioned at least once by the web site junkscience.com. For example:

(1) The Pesticide Action Network took part in a misinformation campaign against genetically modified foods in 2000.

To coordinate efforts to generate media attention and public fear, [PAN and others] hired Fenton Communications - a public relations and marketing firm responsible for numerous false "scare" campaigns, including the now-debunked Alar and silicone breast implant scares. Fenton memos boast of their success in generating income for their clients based on these fear campaigns.

(2) The United Farm Workers of America are mentioned as participants in a legitimate study of cancer incidence among farm workers in California. "The study, published in the November issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, doesn't directly link pesticide use to the higher rates of cancer." But another report, claiming a link, appears at the web site of the Pesticide Action Network of North America, a hard left organization devoted to the elimination of pesticides. At least according to PANNA, the UFWA helped author this report, titled"Fields of Poison: California Farmworkers and Pesticides." Of what feather is PANNA, the bird UFWA is flocking together with?

PANNA (Pesticide Action Network North America) works to replace pesticide use with ecologically sound and socially just alternatives. As one of five PAN Regional Centers worldwide, we link local and international consumer, labor, health, environment and agriculture groups into an international citizens' action network. This network challenges the global proliferation of pesticides, defends basic rights to health and environmental quality, and works to insure the transition to a just and viable society.

(3) The Natural Resources Defense Council in 2004 participated in a scare campaign to eliminate from school lunches chicken that had been raised using antibiotics.

The simple facts are that the members of the campaign don't like animals being raised for human consumption, they don't like the farmers who raise the animals and they don't like the pharmaceutical companies that help the farmers. Having little traction with scientists, the activists necessarily have turned to like-minded politicians to advance their cause -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

This should be interesting. Stay tuned.

-- CAV