Client Politics
Definition: A type of politics when an organized minority or interest group
benefits at the expense of the public.
Pesticides
1. Politicians are involved in the regulation of agricultural pesticides is because of the issue of controlling the use and the runoff of commercial pesticides.
Commercial pesticides such as DDT are employed many farmers to protect their crops in order to maintain high levels of output.
The higher the demand for crops , the higher levels of output are needed to satisfy the demand so farmers plant more and more crops.
Farmers require more and more pesticide as the demand grows, thus increasing the concentration of the pesticide in the surrounding environment and creating the possibility of harming other animals, plants, and even humans.
Pesticides are created with the intent of exterminating pests that would damage crops, but most of the time the harmful chemicals used to kill the pests are also toxic to humans.
Concluding Thought: The use of these “poisons” has raised controversy, which is why the federal government has had to intervene in recent year. So the question arises: Why are we spraying our food supply with poison?
Commercial pesticides such as DDT are employed many farmers to protect their crops in order to maintain high levels of output.
The higher the demand for crops , the higher levels of output are needed to satisfy the demand so farmers plant more and more crops.
Farmers require more and more pesticide as the demand grows, thus increasing the concentration of the pesticide in the surrounding environment and creating the possibility of harming other animals, plants, and even humans.
Pesticides are created with the intent of exterminating pests that would damage crops, but most of the time the harmful chemicals used to kill the pests are also toxic to humans.
Concluding Thought: The use of these “poisons” has raised controversy, which is why the federal government has had to intervene in recent year. So the question arises: Why are we spraying our food supply with poison?
Brief Historical Background
This issue of using pesticides in the agricultural industry was first brought to the public’s attention when Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring on September 27th, 1962.
Carson’s book instilled concern about the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment, specifically the indiscriminate use of Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT.
She called these pesticides "biocides" to imply that they were killing everything biological/living, not just pests.
Congress asked the EPA to evaluate the safety of all commercial pesticides. However, this would require an unimaginably expensive, time-consuming, and complex governmental operation.
There are 3 main reasons why:
Carson’s book instilled concern about the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment, specifically the indiscriminate use of Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT.
She called these pesticides "biocides" to imply that they were killing everything biological/living, not just pests.
Congress asked the EPA to evaluate the safety of all commercial pesticides. However, this would require an unimaginably expensive, time-consuming, and complex governmental operation.
There are 3 main reasons why:
- At the time there were already 50,000 different pesticides in use, with about 5000 new ones produced each year.
- The effects of these pesticides on the health of humans could take anywhere from hours, days, to even years for symptoms to appear so there was no sure way to proclaim a pesticide to be safe.
- Part of evaluating the pesticides is performing a cost-benefit analysis meaning that someone has to weight the costs of using the pesticide with the benefits of using the pesticide and see which outweighed the other.
Farmers
Farmers exercise client politics by having their interests protected in Congress by the House and the Senate Agricultural Committees.
American farmers are some of the most productive in the world.
They believe their level of output can’t be as high without pesticides
Large taxpayer subsidies often make farmers overproduce and overuse pesticides. So how do farmers exercise client politics?
They are benefiting by keeping their output levels and their profits high while the public pays in subsidies.
The EPA has removed very few pesticides from the market.
Only pesticides that receive extensive media coverage due to some incident are taken off the market. Ex. the effect of DDT on birds, namely the Bald Eagle.
American farmers are some of the most productive in the world.
They believe their level of output can’t be as high without pesticides
Large taxpayer subsidies often make farmers overproduce and overuse pesticides. So how do farmers exercise client politics?
They are benefiting by keeping their output levels and their profits high while the public pays in subsidies.
The EPA has removed very few pesticides from the market.
Only pesticides that receive extensive media coverage due to some incident are taken off the market. Ex. the effect of DDT on birds, namely the Bald Eagle.
Pesticides and The Environment- FIFRA
Legislation has been passed to divert the threats of pesticides from animals. The EPA will often take action after some public outcry has been heard as with the case of DDT and Rachel Carson.
DDT was a pesticide that became widely used on many crops. Over some time, local wildlife began to suffer population wise and also started having higher occurrences of birth defects. In the Case of DDT birds who either ate directly from the crop or more predatory birds such as the bald eagle suffered due to the accumulation of DDT through the lower cycles of the food chain. Bird population plummeted.
The government passed client driven legislation, reforming FIFRA, and banning the use of DDT to protect the local wildlife.
DDT was a pesticide that became widely used on many crops. Over some time, local wildlife began to suffer population wise and also started having higher occurrences of birth defects. In the Case of DDT birds who either ate directly from the crop or more predatory birds such as the bald eagle suffered due to the accumulation of DDT through the lower cycles of the food chain. Bird population plummeted.
The government passed client driven legislation, reforming FIFRA, and banning the use of DDT to protect the local wildlife.
The Pesticides Control Amendment PCA and the Food Additives Amendment FAA
The PCA and the FAA both served to limit the use of pesticides due to their contaminating animals. These acts driven by environmental groups drove the FDA to become involved with pesticides, as pesticides contaminated animals and thus, our food.
These two acts also served to protect animal wildlife in areas where pesticides were being used, as they restricted the use of certain substances and also set up regulations as to how the pesticides were applied so as to damage the surrounding wildlife as little as possible.
These two acts also served to protect animal wildlife in areas where pesticides were being used, as they restricted the use of certain substances and also set up regulations as to how the pesticides were applied so as to damage the surrounding wildlife as little as possible.
The EPA and FEPCA
The EPA was formed under Nixon due to pressure from the 60’s to reform and regulate pesticide use and other threats to the environment. The EPA shifted environmental control from the FDA and into themselves. In doing so, the EPA was able to more effectively regulate to use of pesticides to prevent harm to animals and local ecosystems.
The FEPCA was formed to regulate the production of pesticides. The FEPCA required all pesticide manufacturers to perform a variety of tests to determine that their produced pesticide did not have any detrimental effects on the environment. This served to protect the local animals from hazardous pesticides
One of the pieces of environmental policy that was a result of Rachel Carson’s book was the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA).
The FEPCA was formed to regulate the production of pesticides. The FEPCA required all pesticide manufacturers to perform a variety of tests to determine that their produced pesticide did not have any detrimental effects on the environment. This served to protect the local animals from hazardous pesticides
One of the pieces of environmental policy that was a result of Rachel Carson’s book was the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA).
Endangered Species Act of 1973
Was a product of President Nixon’s declaration of inadequate species conservation effort and his request to Congress to pass more comprehensive legislation.
Basically run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
The Act’s main function under these two federal agencies is to prevent the extinction of imperiled plant and animal life, and secondly, to recover and maintain those populations by removing or lessening threats to their survival.
Some examples of the most notable Wild-life that has benefited from the EPA and the ESA were the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcons, and California Condors.
Basically run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
The Act’s main function under these two federal agencies is to prevent the extinction of imperiled plant and animal life, and secondly, to recover and maintain those populations by removing or lessening threats to their survival.
Some examples of the most notable Wild-life that has benefited from the EPA and the ESA were the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcons, and California Condors.
The FIFRA Amendment, the Food Quality Protection act
The FIRA amendment and the FQPA served to restrict the use of pesticides in products going into food. This directly led to the protection of the animals as pesticides were not used near them or in their processing. It basically enforced more stringent standards to the quality of foods