“On the ropes,” Bayer seeks escape from costly Roundup litigation
Bayer executives have been warning in recent weeks that after losing billions of dollars to Roundup case settlements and jury awards, they may be ready to give up the fight.
Carey Gillam
About Carey Gillam
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Can Environmentalism Make Sense Again?
At a time when climate-related headlines often read like obituaries for our planet, Earth Day 2025 offered something rare – a reason for hope. Not the naïve optimism that suggests salvation is assured, but rather compelling evidence that we can make people act for good when we get the messaging right.
Health advocates applaud MAHA report for calling out chemical harms, but say it falls short
By Carey Gillam
Exposures to pesticides and other chemicals, ultra-processed foods and over prescription of medications are among the factors contributing to an epidemic of chronic disease in America’s children, according to a government report issued Thursday by the Trump administration’s controversial “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission.
Pesticide makers continue quest for immunity from lawsuits by sick farmers
LA MOTTE, Iowa — Ray Bickel spent over a decade driving a truck through giant corn and soybean fields in Clinton County, Iowa, applying pesticides. He says it was good work, while it lasted. In 2017, he had a heart attack. The doctors ran tests to find out what caused it and found something else.
The FDA needs to go beyond synthetic dyes to make food safer
By R. Thomas Zoeller
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently targeted synthetic dyes in food, calling on food companies to eliminate their use. But dyes are not the only harmful petroleum-based chemicals in our food.
Q&A: A look at the “turf war” over regenerative agriculture
By Carey Gillam
Consumers looking for healthy foods grown without the use of chemicals have long been able to shop grocery aisle for products carrying an “organic” label, a designation associated with natural processes that focus on soil health, animal well-being, and protections of delicate ecosystems.
Even long after close of polluting paper mill, study finds area residents with high levels of toxins in their blood
By Carey Gillam
Residents of a Michigan community whose drinking water was polluted with toxic chemicals from a long-shuttered paper mill continue to have high levels of the compounds in their bodies, even years after the community switched to alternate water supplies, according to a new study.
Mexico’s act of resistance over GM corn
By Timothy Wise
On March 17, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo signed into law a constitutional reform banning the cultivation of genetically modified corn. The action followed a December ruling by a trade tribunal, under the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, in favor of a US complaint that Mexico’s 2023 presidential decree, with broad restrictions on the consumption of GM corn, constituted an unfair trade practice by prohibiting the use of GM corn in tortillas.
Why is Bayer seeking legal impunity in US over glyphosate?
German agrochemical company Bayer — last week holding its annual shareholders meeting (AGM) – should not be seeking legal impunity. Nor should any other corporation. In an open letter to Bayer’s shareholders, over 100 organizations from the EU, US and around the world warned them that Bayer is doing precisely that.
EPA applauded for easing regulatory “burdens” on farmers using insecticides
By Carey Gillam
Farm groups were cheering moves announced this week by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will alter protections for endangered species to allow for easier use of certain pesticides in agriculture.