[Pollinator] Bird group calls for halt to widely applied insecticide

[David Inouye]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/18/birdsinsecticides/1996271/


The American Bird Conservancy is calling for a ban on using one of 
the globe's most widely used classes of insecticides in seed 
treatments and for a suspension of all other uses, pending an 
independent review of its impact on birds and other wildlife.

The Bird Conservancy, one of the nation's most active 
bird-conservation groups, released a 97-page 
<http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/toxins/Neonic_FINAL.pdf>report 
Monday that says that independent studies of the damage to birds and 
aquatic ecosystems they depend upon for food raise "significant 
environmental concerns" and that the Environmental Protection Agency 
has been too lenient in allowing the use of this class of 
insecticides, called neonicotinoids.

Their possible role in the decline of honeybee populations in the USA 
and Europe has spurred intense debate among scientists, wildlife 
advocates and manufacturers, and the EPA is re-evaluating its 
registration of this class of insecticide.

Etc.