Latest news with #KyleKunkler
Boston Globe
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
EPA proposes allowing use of Dicamba weed killer on some crops
In a statement Wednesday the EPA said, 'these new products would give farmers an additional tool to help manage crops and increase yields in order to provide a healthy and affordable food supply for our country.' Agriculture groups applauded the decision. Advertisement Dicamba became one of the most widely used herbicides on the market after agribusiness companies such as Monsanto released genetically engineered seeds that could tolerate it in 2016. The idea was that farmers could spray their fields with dicamba and weeds would wilt while the crops would survive. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Dicamba-tolerant seeds were developed in response to growing weed tolerance to another widely used herbicide, glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Starting in the 1990s, Monsanto marketed genetically engineered 'Roundup Ready' crop seeds alongside the popular herbicide Roundup. This line of corn, cotton and soy seeds was bred to resist glyphosate, and by 2011 more than 90% of soybeans grown in the U.S. were genetically engineered. The EPA's decision drew an immediate rebuke from the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group that has sued over the use of dicamba. In a statement, Nathan Donley, the group's environmental health science director said, 'this is what happens when pesticide oversight is controlled by industry lobbyists.' Advertisement Last month, Kyle Kunkler, a former soybean industry lobbyist who has been a vocal proponent of dicamba, joined the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention as its deputy assistant administrator. This article originally appeared in
E&E News
28-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Farm industry lobbyist, MAHA critic to head EPA pesticides office
EPA announced that a farm industry lobbyist will take over as the agency's top pesticides officer, deepening the number of appointees at the agency poached from industry groups. Kyle Kunkler on Monday will start as the deputy assistant administrator for pesticides in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, the office's principal deputy assistant administrator, Nancy Beck, said in an email to staff obtained by POLITICO's E&E News. Kunkler has spent the past five years directing government affairs for the American Soybean Association, an agriculture trade group advocating against regulations on pesticides targeted by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his coalition of 'Make America Healthy Again' supporters. Advertisement Prior to joining the trade group, Kunkler led federal government relations for the Biotech Innovation Organization's food and agriculture team. He also previously served as an aide for Rep. Dan Newhouse and former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, both Washington Republicans.
