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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2013)
Host an Exchange Student Today ! RALLY TO BEE-AWARE OF TOXIC NEONICS (for 3, 5 or 10 months) Make a lifelong friend from abroad. Beekeepers have been saying for years that they see a link between neonicotinoid pesti- cides and bee die-offs, but the recent deaths of 50,000 bees near Portland are fi nally giving pesticide foes some traction: A federal bill, the “Save America’s Pollinators Act of 2013” was introduced on July 16. A “Nix the Neonics” rally is planned for noon July 20 at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in downtown Eugene. The 30-minute rally will be fol- lowed by a carpool to an as-of-yet unnamed garden store that has refused to stop selling neonicotinoid pesticides, organizers say. The rally will include a funeral march for the “Wilsonville Bumblebee Massacre of 2013,” information on the toxics, a neonicotinoid scavenger hunt and a sing-along includ- ing a rousing rendition of an anti-neonicotinoid song, sung to the tune of Schoolhouse Rock’s “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here.” Bee costumes and beekeeper suits are “heartily encouraged.” Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s new bill would “suspend registration for certain neo- nicotinoid pesticides and perform a new evaluation of their impacts on pollinators.” Josh Vincent of the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, one of the groups supporting the bill, says NCAP will provide postcards at Saturday’s rally for people to encourage their legislators to co-sponsor the bill. Vincent says that given how long people have known the dangers of neonics, “It’s sur- prising it’s taken this long to have folks moving on it,” and he also encourages people to thank Blumenauer for his bill. Beekeepers Philip Smith and Doug Hornaday, who are among the organizers of the rally, say the problem with neonics is that it’s not a single exposure that affects the bees, it’s that the chemical builds up in their system over time. They say the EPA’s way of approving pesticides is based on the older organophosphates and doesn’t refl ect the cumulative effects of the neonics. Incidents such as Wilsonville where the bees fell dead out of the sky are rare, but as bee advocates Scotty Perey and Jennifer Frenzer point out, while it’s tragic for bees, it also calls attention to the massive loss of bees across the world. After the Oregon bee die-offs, the Oregon Department of Agriculture announced a temporary restriction on the use of 18 pesticides containing the neonicotinoid dinotefuran while it investigates the Portland bee deaths earlier this month. Frenzer says the public is ready to ban the neonics. She handed out fl yers while dressed as a bee at the recent Oregon Country Fair and says people were coming up to her to get the information and fi nd out more. The July 20 rally will feature members of Oregon Sustainable Beekeepers, Beyond Tox- ics, Healthy Bees = Healthy Gardens and the Occupy Eugene Library. For more info go to wkly.ws/1ij or search “Nix the Neonics” on Facebook. — Camilla Mortensen Enrich your family with another culture. Now you can host a high school exchange student (girl or boy) from France, Germany, Scandinavia, Spain, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Italy Victoria from Australia, 17 yrs. or other countries. Single Giorgio from Italy, 16 yrs. parents, as well as couples Loves to play baseball and spend Enjoys spending time with her family and younger siblings. with or without children, time with his dogs. Giorgio also Victoria plays volleyball and is may host. Contact us ASAP plays the guitar, and his dream excited to learn new sports for more information or to is to join a drama club at his while in America. American high school. select your student. Amy 1-800-733-2773 (toll free) / Bonnie (Toll 541-514-4565 Amy at 1-800-733-2773 Free) host.asse.com info@asse.com host.asse.com or or email email info@asse.com INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMS Founded in 1976 ASSE International Student Exchange Program is a Public Benefi t, Non-Profi t Organization. For privacy reasons, photos above are not photos of actual students PETITION TO BAN GM CROPS IN LANE COUNTY The local fi ght against genetically modifi ed crops is on. Citizens’ group Support Local Food Rights (SLFR) submitted a local food system ordinance to the Lane County clerk. The initiative would ban the planting of genetically modifi ed (GM) crops and establish the right to a local food system. Opponents of GM crops are concerned with a host of issues: increased pesticide use, the lack of a long-term study of their safety for consumption and unwanted cross-pollination ruining local organic crops and causing unintentional patent infringement. Attorney Ann Kneeland of SLFR says that communities should have the right to protect local agriculture, which GM crops endanger fi nancially and legally. “They are a technol- ogy that contaminates other crops, and without protections to keep those crops out of areas where conventional and organic crops are being grown, those other crops are not safe,” she says. After contamination with GM varieties, organic crops are no longer vendible as organic, and all farms can be sued for growing patented crops. Perhaps the best-known GM crops are Monsanto’s Roundup Ready varieties of soy- beans, alfalfa, corn, canola, cotton and sugar beets. These crops are engineered to tolerate Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide, which GM opponents say results in more pesticide use. Increased pesticide usage on GM crops in the Corn Belt has killed off the weaker variet- ies of pests and weeds, leaving only the pesticide-resistant organisms to breed, which leads to more usage of pesticides like Roundup. “What’s happened is that pests and weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to pesticides because of the repeated use of the very same BUY / SELL / TRADE LESSONS LARGEST SELECTION OF NEW, USED& VINTAGE, DRUMS, CYMBALS, HARDWARE, HEADS, STICKS & PARTS. REPAIRS AND ALWAYS FREE TUNING AND T-SHIRTS!!! 8&455)&6(&/&t eugeneweekly.com • july 18, 2013 9
