birds and pesticdes

Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 00:23:06
To: sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca
From: Sharon Labchuk <slabchuk@isn.net>
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Return-Path: <sust-mar-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>

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In response to Colin Stewart:

We are all asked to sign on to causes by other environmental groups and it
usually only requires a quick look at the issue, a check of the credentials
and a short letter.  Groups asking for letters of support don't expect
others to launch a campaign - just to write a letter.  This is normal in
the environmental movement. In this case, the organizations supporting a
ban on carbofuran are impressive. 

Most of us trust that the researchers who present evidence of environmental
harm are truthful - I certainly do not have the time or expertise to
evaluate the evidence on climate change or endocrine disruptors so I trust
that people like Suzuki know what they're tallking about and on that basis
will write letters of support if asked.  The idea that we need to have the
"expertise" to evaluate the overwhelming amount of scientific evidence on
the overwhelming number of issues today, before we can offer support to
groups involved in those issues, is ridiculous and a really unimaginative
excuse.

The Island Nature Trust was one of several groups asked to write a letter
of support almost a year ago.  Since then there has been a fair bit of
media coverage on PEI - including some excellent interviews with Dr. Pierre
Mineau, head of the Pesticide Section of the Canadian Wildlife Service
explaining his reasons for opposing the use of carbofuran on potatoes. 


Colin suggested that perhaps the INT won't support a ban because it might
impact on INT's ability to acquire land from a farmer who would support the
use of this poison.

I would have serious ethical problems with such an attitude. Trading acres
for bird's lives?

The Precautionary Principle, as Peter Montague states it, (from Rachel's
#586) says,

1. People have a duty to take anticipatory action to prevent harm. (As one
participant at the Wingspread meeting summarized the essence of the
precautionary principle, "If you have a 
reasonable suspicion that something bad might be going to happen, you have
an obligation to try to stop it.") 

Sharon Labchuk

 











********************************
Sharon Labchuk
Earth Action
81 Prince Street
Charlottetown, PEI  C1A 4R3
Phone: 902-368-7337 / 621-0719
Fax: 902-621-0719 (call first)
slabchuk@isn.net


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