One less complication

From the Progress Report:

PESTICIDES WITHOUT SUPERVISION: Under new rules issued by the Bush administration "the Environmental Protection Agency will be free to approve pesticides without consulting wildlife agencies to determine if the chemical might harm plants and animals" currently protected by the Endangered Species Act. "The new rule benefits the pesticide industry at the expense of endangered species," said Aaron Colangelo, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council. The EPA claimed the old tests were complicated; instead, it's easier to just get rid of them. Easier, maybe, but not better for the environment. The old law, for example, was "successfully used by environmental groups in a recent lawsuit seeking to mitigate the effects of pesticides on salmon in the Pacific Northwest. A federal judge found that the EPA had failed to abide by a requirement that it consult with federal wildlife agencies over the potential harm from pesticides." Now, however, the EPA instead "will conduct its own scientific evaluation."

It's easier to be a dictator, like DoubleAss says.

Many years ago in a college entomology course, we were required to research the current literature on the safety (or lack thereof) of pesticide use. The professor wanted us to realize that environmentalists were making a big deal out of nothing. What I found instead at that time was that the majority of people running the EPA were also board members of or had other connections to the major chemical companies. Something tells me that hasn't changed.

....and hey, do what you want....you will anyway.