BY JODY BENSON
Los Alamos
Editor,
Dina Pesenson’s article about the ESB’s recommendation that the County limit the use of glyphosate is a comprehensive summary of the issues. It is time—way past time—to pass this recommendation.
Here in Los Alamos, far-sighted individuals have been working to limit herbicides and pesticides for over two decades, but only now do we have a local government that is willing to trust the science and make decisions to support the health of our residents.
Back in the 60s when I was in high school, kids were reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. I want to remind everybody that this was the era when crop dusters would fly over the plethora of new housing developments to spray DDT to kill mosquitos in back yards. “It’s fine,” we were told (and yes, it’s true, kids actually did chase those planes spraying aerosolized poisons, just as kids today are told it’s fine to be on their devices all day).
Some of these same kids who’d been reading Silent Spring were the ones who went to Vietnam where they, along with millions of Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians were bombed with DARPA-invented Agent Purple/Pink/Green and finally the preferred Orange that evolved into Roundup.
Ms Pesenson’s article lists some of glyphosate’s effects on human health. I’ll add just two more: 1) Glyphosate effects pollinators. Even elementary kids know that human food as well as the entire vegetative environment depends on insects. Although glyphosate is a designated plant killer rather than insecticide, it disrupts the microbial community in the digestive system of insects—including our pollinator bees—making them more vulnerable to infection. Remember 2020 when the USGS discovered the cause of the massive die-off of migrating birds was starvation? Insects, seeds, vegetation? 2) The World Health Organization and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics recommends full global phaseout of glyphosate. Glyphosate harms not only the health of the mother, but that of fetus.
We’re Science City. Let’s follow the science. It’s been 59 years since environmental prophet Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring called for action. It’s time we heeded our prophets and our ESB to eliminate the global spraying of glyphosates. Let the Council know you support t health. Let them know that you support this resolution.