Cory Booker pitches bill to allow lawsuits against pesticide makers over ‘toxic products'
The Pesticide Injury Accountability Act would 'ensure that pesticide manufacturers can be held responsible for the harm caused by their toxic products', according to a summary of the bill. The legislation would be amended to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1972 (FIFRA).
If passed, the law would turn the tables on efforts by Bayer and a coalition of agricultural organizations as they push for state-by-state legislation blocking individuals from being able to file lawsuits accusing the companies of failing to warn of the risks of their products. The industry has also been pushing for federal preemptive protections against litigation.
So far, two states – Georgia and North Dakota – have passed what critics call 'liability shield' laws. The laws essentially declare that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has oversight of pesticide labeling and state laws cannot permit companies to be held liable for failing to go beyond what the EPA requires in warning customers of potential risks.
Booker's proposed law would not invalidate the state laws, but would give individuals an alternative - the right to bring their injury claims in federal courts if they can't bring them in state courts.
'Rather than providing a liability shield so that foreign corporations are allowed to poison the American people, Congress should instead … ensure that these chemical companies can be held accountable in federal court for the harm caused by their toxic products,' Booker said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the bill.
So far, 17 environmental, public health and consumer groups have endorsed the measure, including leaders in the Make America Health Again (Maha) movement.
Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America and a supporter of Booker's legislation, said it is 'unconscionable that corporations are pushing our elected officials to manipulate laws that protect their profits over the health and safety of Americans'. She noted that many pesticides used widely in the US are banned in other countries because of their health risks.
The summary of the bill names both Germany-based Bayer and the Chinese-owned Syngenta as key targets and says they and others are seeking 'liability shields because they know the harm their products have already caused'.
Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 and inherited a mass of lawsuits involving close to 200,000 plaintiffs in the United States alone, all alleging that the company should have warned users that its glyphosate-based weed killing products, such as the popular Roundup brand, could cause cancer. The company has already paid out billions of dollars in settlements and jury awards, but still faces roughly 67,000 lawsuits.
Likewise, Syngenta is facing several thousand lawsuits from people alleging that its paraquat weed killing products cause Parkinson's disease and that Syngenta should have warned users of evidence that chronic exposure could cause the incurable brain disease. The company has so far paid out well over $100m to settle cases before they go to trial, and is attempting to solidify a broad settlement of the majority of the cases.
Bayer and its allies argue that their pesticide products, which are widely used in farming, are not only safe but are necessary for food production. Costly lawsuits jeopardize the availability of pesticides for agriculture, they say.
Bayer did not respond to a request for comment on Booker's proposed legislation.
Syngenta said Booker's bill 'targets American food security' and that farmers do not deserve an 'attack on the products they rely on'. The company said American agriculture is 'highly regulated, productive and safe', and that its paraquat products specifically, have not been shown to cause Parkinson's disease.
This story is co-published with the New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ghislaine Maxwell's could dodge congressional subpoena for her testimony in Epstein investigation, lawyer says
Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is unsure whether she will comply with a recent congressional subpoena to testify about his abuse of girls and whether others were involved, amid continued pressure for the government to disclose more about the case. 'We have to make a decision about whether she will do that or not,' her attorney David Oscar Markus told Politico. 'That's been scheduled for the week of August 11th and we haven't gotten back to them on whether we'll do that.' Maxwell could invoke the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying, while Congress could offer the former British socialite immunity. Maxwell is currently in a Florida federal prison serving a 20-year sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors, which she has sought to overturn in the Supreme Court. Her lawyer said, Maxwell is hoping Donald Trump pardons her. A bipartisan group on the House Oversight Committee voted Tuesday to subpoena Maxwell amid renewed interest into the Epstein scandal. Maxwell sat with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in recent days for an in-depth interview in Florida. The interview featured Maxwell answering questions about ' 100 different people,' her lawyer said. DOJ officials spoke to her as fallout from the president's handling of releasing information in the Epstein case continues to mount. Democrats have criticized Maxwell's conversations with the DOJ, arguing they are a conflict of interest given the political pressure the Trump administration is facing to disclose more about the Epstein case and Trump's personal relationship with the disgraced investor. 'Under no circumstances should anyone from Trump's DOJ be allowed to privately interview Ghislaine Maxwell,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X of the interview. 'The conflict of interest is glaring. It stinks of high corruption.' The battle over Epstein info has played out beyond just Congress, which House Speaker Mike Johnson broke early for an August recess as legislators pressured the administration to disclose the full Epstein files. Last week, President Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal 's parent companies News Corp and Dow Jones, after the paper reported that Trump sent a 'bawdy' birthday letter to Epstein. The president has denied the letter is valid. The Epstein saga has created a rare wedge between Trump and members of his base and party. Trump and his allies campaigned on releasing more information about Epstein, and initially, the White House made steps toward fulfilling that promise, releasing what it called ' Phase 1 ' of the Epstein files to a group of conservative commentators and online personalities in February. However, most of it was redacted or already disclosed. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced there was no 'Epstein client list' despite speculation, and that no more disclosures would be made about the case, infuriating parts of the MAGA base. The president has chastised his own supporters for their intrigue over Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, calling the scandal a Democrat-led 'scam' and 'con job.' The president, who has previously denied being mentioned in the Epstein files, was in fact told by the Justice Department he was one of numerous high-profile figures mentioned in the course of investigations into Epstein, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Feeling flush? Americans can Venmo government to help pay off US debt
John F Kennedy's sage words from his inaugural address are forever seared into America's political consciousness: 'Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.' Six decades and some change later, the United States Treasury is keeping Kennedy's spirit alive by offering Americans with a few dollars collecting dust in their Venmo balance a chance to fulfill a new patriotic duty: helping pay off the national debt. The US treasury department has long had a 'Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt' page available for those that dislike traditional charity, feel like they don't pay enough in taxes, or simply want to help the country stay No 1 in an eclectic list of superlatives that includes military spending, Olympic gold medals, prison population, corn subsidies, and healthcare costs. But the new-age, Gen Z-friendly method of payment is a recent addition, first flagged on Twitter by Planet Money's Jack Corbett. A bipartisan punching bag that trades sides of the aisle depending on who's in office and who needs funds earmarked for projects in their state, concern over the national debt is one of few issues that Democrats and Republicans can unite on. Also bipartisan is the debt's growth, which has increased every year since 2001, when it sat at $10.28tn. As of this writing, the debt has ballooned to $36.72tn. America is on track to continue the trend, with the Congressional Budget Office estimating that Trump's Big Beautiful Bill will add $3.4tn to the debt over the coming decade. It is unclear how much money Trump and Elon Musk's 'Doge' saved, although analysis estimates the number at under the advertised $180bn, and a far cry short of the initially advertised $2tn. The federal government spent $6.75tn in Fiscal Year 2024 while collecting $4.92tn in revenue. Highlights of past and present government spending include the $151bn procurement process for the Trump administration's Golden Dome missile defense project, over $2tn on Lockheed Martin's long delayed F-35 fighter jet, and roughly $800bn in annual spending on the Pentagon, which recently failed its seventh audit in a row. Kind-hearted Americans have gone above and beyond their regular tax-paying duties contributing around $67.3m since 1996. That's enough to fund 20 minutes of the US government's spending habit. If Americans could dig into their couch cushions, eat less takeout, and tighten their belts, they might be able to tackle the problem once and for all. It would only take about $107,000 per person, payable via ACH, Paypal, credit or debit card, and now, Venmo.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Japan says $550 billion package in trade deal could finance Taiwanese chipmaker in US
TOKYO, July 26 (Reuters) - Japan's $550 billion investment package agreed in this week's U.S. tariff deal could help finance a Taiwanese firm building semiconductor plants in the U.S., Japan's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Saturday. Japan agreed to the sweeping U.S.-bound investment initiative, which includes equity, loans and guarantees, in exchange for lower tariffs on its exports to the U.S. However, the structure of the scheme remains unclear. "Japan, the United States, and like-minded countries are working together to build supply chains in sectors critical to economic security," Akazawa told public broadcaster NHK. To that end, he said projects eligible for financing under the package are not limited to U.S. or Japanese firms. "For example, if a Taiwanese chipmaker builds a plant in the U.S. and uses Japanese components or tailors its products to meet Japanese needs, that's fine too," he said, without specifying companies. The U.S. is significantly reliant on Taiwan's TSMC ( opens new tab for advanced chip manufacturing, raising economic security concerns due to geographic proximity to China. TSMC announced plans for a $100 billion U.S. investment with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in March, on top of $65 billion pledged for three plants in the state of Arizona, one of which is up and running. Japan will use state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) for the investments. A recent law revision has enabled JBIC to finance foreign companies deemed critical to Japan's supply chains. Akazawa told NHK that equity investment would account for just about 1-2% of the $550 billion, suggesting that the bulk will come in the form of loans and guarantees. When asked about the White House statement that the U.S. would retain 90% of the profits from the package, he clarified that the figure refers only to returns on equity investment, which would represent a small fraction of the total. While Japan initially hoped to secure half of the returns, a loss from the concession on the profit-sharing would be marginal compared to the roughly 10 trillion yen ($67.72 billion) in tariff costs that could be avoided under the deal, he said. He added that Japan aims to deploy the $550 billion investments during Trump's current term. ($1 = 147.6600 yen)
