‘Unbiased’scientific look at neonics
November 17, 2014
From: FarmersForum (Ontario)
Six Senate committee hearing presentations on neonics lay blame for bee deaths on many factors
By Patrick Meagher
It didn’t take long for the debate about neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seeds to sound hysterical.
Hysteria got a boost last month when Ontario Environment Commissioner Gord Miller announced that neonics are “the biggest threat to the structure and ecological integrity of the ecosystem that I have ever encountered in my life.”
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Chirs Cutler, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University: “That’s, I guess, a touchy subject.”
Senator Mercer: That’s why I asked it.
Chris Cutler: I guess if it’s a loaded question, you’re thinking about the neonicotinoids. My opinion is probably not a popular one: I don’t see them as being a huge risk to pollinators, and it’s simply because I don’t see the evidence.
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