NW Experts Say Recent Pesticide Report is Politically Motivated

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"NW experts say recent pesticide report is politically motivated"
by Cookson Beecher and Ed Merriman
Capitol Press, Agriculture Weekly

Some Northwest experts who track use of agricultural chemicals are raising questions about possible political motivations behind what they say is a report that could mislead the public.

In a Tuesday press release the Consumers Union, which published the 288-page report titled Pest Management at the Crossroads, criticizes farmers for failing to adopt Integrated Pest Management practices and blames pesticides for polluting drinking water and food, heightening cancer risks, killing fish and birds and siphoning billions of dollars from the economy to support the research and regulatory apparatus tied to the chemical industry.

"I think the release was put out partially for sensational value," said Terry Witt of Oregonians for Food and Shelter. "Consumers Union is a Ralph Nader group. Obviously it serves their political interests to hype this."

Nader is running as the Green Party's presidential candidate in the upcoming November election.

Witt said the Green Party isn't the only party painting agriculture and other natural resource industries as destroyers of the environment for political gain.....