Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 197 posts

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#61

Post by kornhole »

lostmsu wrote: post #45
kornhole wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your skepticism is warranted. Of course the negative affects of these chemicals is down played by those who sell them. Many leech into ecosystems, our homes, and our bodies causing obvious and latent issues. I personally love insects and plants considered weeds as they are critical to our biosphere. I have learned to live with and around them managing a balance both in my house and in my garden. Chemical warfare shou…

How do you deal with ant infestations inside your house?

I suppose I have been lucky in location or keep some kind of good balance. Chemical warfare would be my last resort if I was ever faced with it.

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#63

Post by epgui »

guelo wrote: post #55
ErikCorry wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those of us who are not biochemists, he's talking about Roundup (glyphosate).

Which is not what the article is about

The public's attention is a scarce resource (however plentiful it might seem). My comment's relevance can be explained as a call to change how this resource (public attention/outrage/fear/etc) is distributed. Barring regulation, herbicides all compete with each other.

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#64

Post by rib3ye »

boomskats wrote: post #3

SPOILER ALERT: the answer is 'lobbying'. That is, the free, democratic, and fully legal, bribery of government legislators and elected officials by profit-driven corporate bodies. I, for one, was not surprised.

TFA mentions 102k signatures collected to petition to ban. Did you know the person with the clipboard gets paid per signature? All the incentives in these conversations are messed up.

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#65

Post by epgui »

rb229 wrote: post #60
epgui wrote: post #5

I’m a biochemist, and it drives me nuts how much the public worries about glyphosate but not really any other herbicides. Glyphosate may not be perfect but I’d worry more about almost any other type of herbicide, most of which are absolutely nasty.

I do not really buy this reasoning. Glyphosate has been proven to be harmful [ source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate ]. Other things might be worse, sure, but that does not mean we can allow Glyohosate to be used without thinking about the risks.

Risk is not all-or-nothing, and I am not saying glyphosate should be used without worrying about the risks. I am saying people have their relative risk assessment all wrong. There are different degrees of risk, and believe it or not, the known risks of glyphosate are dwarfed by the known risks of other alternatives.

Show me someone who can come up with a better herbicide, and I will show you a wealthy person.

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#66

Post by imglorp »

epgui wrote: post #5

I’m a biochemist, and it drives me nuts how much the public worries about glyphosate but not really any other herbicides. Glyphosate may not be perfect but I’d worry more about almost any other type of herbicide, most of which are absolutely nasty.

Roundup is also available at your home center in a big flashy display. This seems like criminal deception and disregard for public safety.

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#67

Post by higgins »

epgui wrote: post #65
rb229 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not really buy this reasoning. Glyphosate has been proven to be harmful [ source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate ]. Other things might be worse, sure, but that does not mean we can allow Glyohosate to be used without thinking about the risks.

Risk is not all-or-nothing, and I am not saying glyphosate should be used without worrying about the risks. I am saying people have their relative risk assessment all wrong. There are different degrees of risk, and believe it or not, the known risks of glyphosate are dwarfed by the known risks of other alternatives. Show me someone who can come up with a better herbicide, and I will show you a wealthy person.

Shortlist of those other herbicides?

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#68

Post by pjc50 »

everybodyknows wrote: post #16
sonofhans wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it’s bribery. Everyone involved knows it’s bribery. The money is given with expectation of reward. If the bribing entity didn’t expect a direct reward, they wouldn’t give the money. Now, everyone tries to hide behind levels of abstraction — “It’s just lobbying!” — but those are just fig leaves and reasonable people should see through them. E.g., “Exxon gave the money to my campaign committee, and I’m not in…

Transferring campaign donations to personal use is a felony, precisely because it does amount to bribery as enabled by money laundering. Recent case, ending in prison conviction: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/former-congressman-dunc...

Everybody knows you've got to launder it by having the campaign by services from a company you control. Besides, you can just bribe the people on the FEC (or rely on party loyalty) to not investigate.

https://www.salon.com/2022/05/17/fec-block-action-on-alleged...

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#69

Post by pjc50 »

gruez wrote: post #40
CharlesW wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is $1-2M/year all it takes? If so, that's a pretty great ROI. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary...

I doubt it. Sam Bankman-Fried sank 11 million into getting a biosecurity expert elected in a Democratic Primary, and got less than 20% of the votes.

Who was that candidate?

Re: Why does the US allow a controversial weedkiller banned across the world?

#70

Post by epgui »

imglorp wrote: post #66
epgui wrote: post #5

I’m a biochemist, and it drives me nuts how much the public worries about glyphosate but not really any other herbicides. Glyphosate may not be perfect but I’d worry more about almost any other type of herbicide, most of which are absolutely nasty.

Roundup is also available at your home center in a big flashy display. This seems like criminal deception and disregard for public safety.

I'm inclined to agree with you, possibly.

However the risk to human health is (in my honest opinion and according to my best professional judgment) very minimal, and the greater risk is environmental. In part for this reason, I would think industrial application to be orders of magnitude more concerning than some old lady applying it in her patch of tomatoes.

Post reply on HN