Beyond neonics, the bigger problem, said the scientists and conservation activists I spoke with, is the seeming “capture” of the pesticide regulatory system, in both Canada and U.S., by the chemical industry and its well-funded lobby, with a revolving door between regulators and the regulated that has hampered meaningful change.
“Ultimately, it boils down to the fact that we have a federal pesticide law, and an agency that administers it, that basically favors the issuance of new pesticide registrations without adequate analysis of their potential impacts,” said Peter Jenkins, senior counsel for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a group that is a frequent critic of federal pesticide oversight. (My repeated attempts to solicit a response to a number of questions about pesticide use and policy from CropLife America, the U.S. pesticide industry trade group, were unsuccessful.)
