Many industrial processes create toxic waste by-products. Getting rid of the toxic wastes can bankrupt the enterprise. Better to invent a new use. Re-brand and Spread the poison. The fluoride example.
Remember the controversial promotion of ethanol as an alternative fuel?
1. Watch: How Pesticides Destroyed a Small Town (short)
. . . the consequences of a system that failed them? Or . . . as Pogo says,
Some things can’t be fixed after the fact, not in my lifetime. Not in the lifetime of the farmer in the video. Mobilizations in the U.S. are thankfully fighting hard to change the path we’re on. I hope we Canadians are fighting as hard with the Americans and People around the Earth who will make “better” happen.The documentary is co-published with FERN (The Food and Environment Reporting Network).
“Farm to Fuel,” a short documentary exposes how neonicotinoid pesticides generated by an ethanol plant poisoned Mead, Nebraska’s soil, water and air — and how the town is still fighting for justice.
For decades, Mead, Nebraska, was a peaceful rural town — until toxins generated by the area ethanol plant poisoned Mead’s land, water and air.
“Farm to Fuel,” a short documentary, builds on investigative reporting by The New Lede, co-published with The Guardian, which exposed how the plant’s reckless disposal of pesticide-laced waste created an environmental disaster.
At the heart of the crisis are neonicotinoid pesticides, still widely used across the U.S. despite mounting evidence of their harm.
The New Lede’s Alex Hinton traveled to Mead, where he met with farmer Stan Keiser and his family, who shared their story of environmental devastation, previously reported by The New Lede.
Hinton spoke with Judy Wu-Smart, Ph.D., of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, whose groundbreaking research has been crucial in exposing the dangers of neonicotinoid pesticides, and former state Sen. Carol Blood, who has been leading the fight for stronger regulations to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.
Mead’s fight for justice is far from over. Despite the plant’s shutdown, its toxic legacy lingers, raising urgent questions about corporate negligence, environmental responsibility and the safety of rural communities across America.
Meanwhile, neonicotinoids continue to be used on millions of acres of farmland, seeping into ecosystems and threatening pollinators, wildlife and human health.
Today, the residents of Mead are still demanding answers, still seeking accountability and still living with the consequences of a system that failed them.
with the consequences of a system that failed them.
The documentary is co-published with FERN (The Food and Environment Reporting Network).
Originally published by The New Lede.
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2. State approved the use of pesticide-coated seed corn for ethanol plant a decade ago
(why am I posting this? . . . to remind ourselves how much we lose when we let things go. Gotta stay on top of what’s happening. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in North Dakota or across the border in Canada. )
Critics of slow cleanup at AltEn plant express surprise that it was called a ‘minor’ change
(“how did it happen?” – It should not have.)