Recently I had the opportunity to spend an entire day at the University of Florida Department of Entomology — the same department where I obtained my M.S. more than 30 years ago. I gave a talk on the law and ecology of pesticides and pest management and met with graduate students and faculty. It was fascinating to hear about the innovative research being conducted related to ecologically based pest management and sustainable agriculture. The discussions that day provided concrete illustrations of some of the challenges of developing sound pesticide regulation that I have highlighted in my recent scholarship, particularly my recently published book chapter.
First, it reminded me how it important it is for lawyers and scientists to share their perspectives and engage in the interdisciplinary work that is necessary to solve today’s complex environmental issues. Second, it reminded me of the challenges of incorporating new scientific research and understandings into a legal system that demands certainty and a regulatory system that has become ossified. Finally, hearing from scientists working on the cutting edge of research about the daunting task of feeding a growing population at the same time that climate change may dramatically reduce agricultural production and increase crop pest problems reminded me of just how much is at stake.
Since the mid-twentieth century, the developed world has relied heavily on the use of synthetic chemical pesticides to support industrialized high-yield agriculture. Chemical pesticides, generally derived from fossil fuels, comprise a significant component of most industrialized monoculture agriculture. This dependency on synthetic chemical pesticides is attributable to a number of factors including ill-conceived policy choices, perverse economic incentives, and the inherent characteristics of pest populations and their responses to chemical controls. The combination of these factors has created what is in essence an addiction to pesticides that does not make economic sense, that contributes to significant human health and environmental harms, and that is counterproductive in that it can lead to ever greater pesticide dependency. As with any addiction, the developed world’s addiction to chemical pesticides will not be easy to break.
Just as a drug addict may require greater doses or strengths over time to achieve the same result, and will often become ill if she or he goes too long without using the drug, our current system of industrialized farming sets up a situation where more and more toxic pesticides are needed to achieve the same pest control results and where failure to apply pesticides can lead to serious pest outbreaks resulting in significant crop losses. This vicious cycle of pesticide use leading to more pest problems and consequently more pesticide use has created a pesticide treadmill. A number of legal, political, and societal changes are needed to break our pesticide addiction and step off the pesticide treadmill. In my recent book chapter, I explore how the metaphor of addiction or chemical dependency is an apt one and offers useful insights into both the nature of the problem and potential solutions. Building on this metaphor, I propose a program to break the pesticide addiction, using the 12-step program created by Alcoholics Anonymous as a framework for treating pesticide addiction by moving to a more ecologically-based system of pest control.
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Mary Jane Angelo | March 9, 2016
Recently I had the opportunity to spend an entire day at the University of Florida Department of Entomology — the same department where I obtained my M.S. more than 30 years ago. I gave a talk on the law and ecology of pesticides and pest management and met with graduate students and faculty. It was […]
Dave Owen | March 7, 2016
Since Justice Scalia’s passing, the blogosphere has been abuzz with speculation about how the changed composition of the Court will affect environmental law. This post adds a little more to that speculation. My focus is not the Clean Power Plan litigation, which has (justifiably) gathered much of the attention, but instead the litigation over the […]
Daniel Farber | March 3, 2016
Chief Justice Roberts turned down a request this morning to stay EPA’s mercury rule. Until the past month, this would have been completely un-noteworthy, because such a stay would have been unprecedented. But the Court’s startling recent stay of the EPA Clean Power Plan suggested that the door might have been wide open. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem […]
James Goodwin | March 3, 2016
CPR Vice President Sid Shapiro is among the many distinguished panelists participating this monring in a forum called “Regulatory Capture in the 21st Century.” The forum is hosted by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), an independent federal agency that works to provide Congress with advice on improving the administrative system. The event will feature remarks […]
Evan Isaacson | March 2, 2016
The mysterious deaths of 13 bald eagles on Maryland's Eastern Shore last month captured headlines around the country. While a tragic story, it was also a reminder of just how far bald eagle populations and those of other birds of prey have recovered over the last several decades. From a population of fewer than 1,000 […]
James Goodwin | March 2, 2016
Yesterday, the Republican members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC)—the Senate committee with primary oversight jurisdiction over the regulatory system—published a report detailing their shock and dismay over a Wall Street Journal story alleging that the White House “may have inappropriately influenced” the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) so-called “net neutrality” rule. […]
Rena Steinzor | February 29, 2016
The Supreme Court today denied certiorari in a case challenging the watershed-wide effort led by the EPA to reduce pollution flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. The Court’s action leaves standing a lower court ruling upholding the effort. CPR Member Scholar Rena Steinzor, Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, issued […]
Daniel Farber | February 25, 2016
There’s already been a lot written about how Justice Scalia’s untimely death will affect pending cases, not to mention speculation about the possible nominees to replace him. Less attention has been given to the effect on the lower courts. Yet Justice Scalia’s departure gives liberal judges in lower courts more freedom than they’ve had in […]
Katie Tracy | February 24, 2016
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has informally announced that it is unlikely to finalize its long-awaited rule to limit workers’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica by the month’s end, as the agency had expected. OSHA’s deputy assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, Jordan Barab, told Politico on Friday, Feb. 18, […]