Action alert: Help pass a bill in Hartford that would restrict the use of two pesticides
The pesticides that would be restricted by SB 120 kill insects eaten by virtually every songbird in Connecticut. Restricting the pesticides helps insects and birds of all kinds.
This bill will help carry out the recommendations in the 2021 Connecticut State of the Birds report, “Three Billion Birds Are Gone. How Do We Bring Them Back?”
March 1, 2022 — Connecticut Audubon is supporting a bill in Hartford that would restrict the use of two pesticides that kill beneficial insects and other small creatures that birds rely on for food.
You can help get it passed.
The bill is SB 120, An Act Concerning The Use of Chlorpyrifos on Golf Courses and Neonicotinoids For Nonagricultural Use.
The proposal would:
- ban the use of chlorpyrifos on golf courses (Connecticut has more than 80 golf courses covering an estimated 8.000 to 12,000 acres)
- prohibit the use of neonicotinoids for purposes other than agriculture.
Here are the relevant sections of Connecticut Audubon’s testimony, submitted by Executive Director Patrick Comins:
This act would prohibit the use of the pesticide Chlorpyrifos on golf courses within the state and prohibit the use of neonicotinoids for non-agricultural use.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires a label on chlorpyrifos to inform users that “Chlorpyrifos is moderately to very highly toxic to birds…” and that “Chlorpyrifos is very highly toxic to freshwater fish, aquatic invertebrates and estuarine and marine organisms…”
Further, “Aquatic and general agricultural uses of Chlorpyrifos may be extremely poisonous to wildlife and honeybees…”
With such cautions required, it would be highly prudent to prohibit this toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative pesticide within Connecticut.
Additionally, some neonicotinoids have been shown to be extremely toxic to birds and we strongly support any attempt to reduce the occurrence of these toxic chemicals in the ecosystem.
