Stop Aerial Pesticide Spraying, Consider Sustainable Agriculture

My open letter to California State Assembly
Committee on Agriculture

Dear Ms. Parra,

I write the blog Chasing Clean Air. Naturally, I want to breathe clean air.

As you consider spraying tens of millions of Californians with a pesticide that has ingredients known to cause cancer and lung disease in animals, which I learned when interviewing a former OSHA physician specializing in pesticides, I urge you to consider all facts as we understand them.

You can read my piece on pesticide ingredients here: http://www.chasingcleanair.com/chasing_clean_air/2008/04/asthma-emphysem.html

Please consider:

1% of Santa Cruz and Monterey County residents went to their doctors with asthma and other "sick" symptoms after first aerial pesticide spray. That's what we know. What's 1% of the Bay Area's population? The state of California?

As a result of my blog, people write in and talk about moving away from California as a result of getting sick during Santa Cruz and Monterey sprays. Many already have moved.

Can California afford to lose residents to other states, taking needed tax dollars with them?

Can California afford to lose tourism dollars?

I have warned my readers about so-called clean air areas--Monterey, Santa Cruz, Marin County, San Francisco, as potentially hazardous to the health of residents and travelers should spray go forward as planned. I heard Fodor's travel guides began warning travelers about California as a result of spray.

Can California afford the health care costs of potentially hundreds of thousands of people, if not more, who may be negatively impacted by spray? Short-term. Long-term.

Can California afford to be perceived as the state that haphazardly takes care of the brown apple moth by spraying residents with known toxic ingredients before even trying sustainable practices first?

I recently traveled through Oregon, and while I'm not an agricultural expert, I spoke to people proud of the fact that Willamette Valley uses sustainable farming practices. Let's  learn from others. Here's Oregon's Sustainable Agriculture Web Page  http://www.orsolutions.org/willamette/sustainag.htm

Please give it a try and stop pending aerial pesticide spraying.

We all want to breathe clean air without fear of an asthma attack or migraine, or something worse.

Best wishes,

Donna Barnett