Public service announcement.

I confess that I am posting this without doing 100% of the research on this issue, simply because someone else I trust did 100% of the research and sent me the information. And also, simply because I can't believe we are still conducting aerial pesticide spraying in this country at all. Really? Has technology not advanced far enough to prevent this need?

STOP AERIAL PESTICIDE SPRAYING!
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has announced plans to resume aerial pesticide spraying for the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) in summer of 2008. The campaign began in 2007 in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties using a synthetic pheromone along with other chemicals encased in microscopic plastic capsules. CDFA will expand the program to the San Francisco Bay Area with plans to continue spraying each month for up to 5 years or indefinitely until the moth is eradicated.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE LBAM SPRAYING?
1) Hundreds of people in Santa Cruz and Monterey County have reported adverse health reactions. The spray has not been tested for long-term human toxicity and is being applied in microscopic plastic capsules that could pose inhalation risks.

2) The spray contains ingredients that are highly toxic to aquatic species, as well as surfactants, that might have contributed to algae bloom (red tide) and the drowning of hundreds of waterfowl.

3) Biologists agree that the spraying - an outdated, unsustainable, expensive pest control method - will not eradicate the moth. The CDFA should switch to a control vs. an eradication program using least-toxic methods that farmers already apply, e.g. pheromone traps or sticky ties.

4) CDFA itself says the moth has done no crop damage in California to date. Priority must be given to public and environmental health and safety over speculative economic loss.

5) The aerial spray program disproportionately impacts vulnerable segments of the population, including those with the recognized disability of multiple chemical sensitivity, who are in many cases forced to relocate, and the homeless, who have no option to protect themselves from spraying.

[Ed. note: it's also a really cute little moth! I love moths.]

More information that has been vetted by scientists and other activists.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

• Sign the petition at www.stopthespray.org, get informed and become active!
• Contact the media: newspapers, weeklies, radio and television stations - voice your concern.
• Ask Governor Schwarzenegger and CDFA Secretary Kawamura to stop the spray program and shift to sustainable methods of least-toxic pest control.
• Ask your Assemblymember to support proposed legislation to stop spraying without consent and safety data and to do whatever they can to stop the spraying until legislation can be passed.
• Ask your federal Congressional representatives and Senators to tell USDA to support safe pest control and to lift the USDA quarantine of California crops from areas where the light brown apple moth has been found.