According to the New Jersey Sierra Club, on January 7, 2021 the Assembly Appropriations Committee will consider A070 (Calabrese) / S1016 (Smith).
The bill would direct the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to classify neonicotinoids as restricted use pesticides, and DEP would list chemicals in the neonicotinoid class that would be included in the restricted classification.
Neonicotinoids not only kill bees and birds, thereby harming the ecosystem and food chain, but they impact human health. This legislation will help New Jersey to phase out these toxic chemicals.
This 0:53-minute video by News Direct explains how neonicotinoids harm bees:
If bees die out, it will have a grave impact on the environment and on farming and crop availability. An environmental crisis is looming, and pesticides are a main factor. This bill should move quickly to the Governor’s desk, after which these pesticides would only be able to be bought and used by certified, licensed pesticide applicators.
The class of pesticides called neonicotinoids is known to affect pollinators and is suspected as a root cause of the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) which results in the disappearance of bees.
The two worst neonicotinoids for bee population devastation are imidacloprid and chlorpyrifos. They are found in fruit, the apple sauce we give children, drinking water and even in the human body, where they act as neurotoxins. They are very harmful to bees and humans, especially women and children.
Many people believe they should be prohibited in New Jersey. The bill is a step in the right direction. Hawaii banned this deadly insecticide class and New Jersey should also. Courts in France just upheld the ban in the European Union. Worldwide, beehives are collapsing and bees are dying, producing dire consequences for the environment and agriculture.
The first step in saving bees and other wildlife is to stop using insecticides that are deadly to them.