Testimony of The Connecticut Audubon Society regarding “An Act Concerning the Use of Neonicotinoids,” S.B. 190
Summer azure, one of the many pollinators you might see at the Coastal Center’s pollinator garden. Neonicotinoids pose a risk nut just to birds to but to pollinaotrs of all types.
Friday, March 8, 2024 — Connecticut Audubon Executive Director Joyce Leiz is testifying in Hartford today on a proposal to regulate a dangerous class of pesticides called neonicotinoids.
This is the full text of our written testimony, submitted by Executive Director Joyce Leiz:
The Connecticut Audubon Society strongly supports stricter regulations on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. However, we believe the current proposal, SB 190, needs to be improved. To accomplish that, we join with many others in the environmental community in requesting that you incorporate the language from last year’s neonicotinoid bill, SB 963, which both the Environment Committee and the Appropriations Committee passed.
SB 963 did a much better job of restricting these dangerous pesticides, strictly limiting them for uses other than agriculture.
The protection of birds has been at the heart of Connecticut Audubon’s mission since the organization was founded in 1898. The number of birds in North America has fallen by almost 30 percent in the last 50 years. We’ve seen similar population declines in Connecticut. We request that you add a provision to SB 190 banning the use of neonicotinoid-coated seeds for agricultural use. Coated seeds are particularly pernicious for birds — studies have shown that one coated seed eaten by a bird in a farm field contains enough neonicotinoids to be fatal.
Neonicotinoid pesticides (known as neonics) are generally systemic in nature, infusing all parts of a treated plant, from the roots to the pollen and nectar. While they are very effective against pests, they are non-specific, which is to say that they kill beneficial insects as well as pests.
Many studies have linked the decline of native pollinators to the use of neonics. (Please see the American Bird Conservancy, the Xerces Society, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.)
Neonics are persistent in the environment and are water soluble, meaning that they are easily transported from application sites to wild, untreated areas. Even if areas are set aside as pollinator habitat, they can become infused with neonics used upstream in the watershed.
Neonics can affect birds in multiple ways beyond the consumption of coated seeds. Most birds eat mainly insects and thus the loss of beneficial insects affects their prey base. But studies have also shown that neonics are directly toxic to birds (Auburn University; American Bird Conservancy).
The need for strict regulation of pesticides has drawn the attention of a broad coalition of advocates around the state, under the banner of the Connecticut Coalition for Pesticide Reform. Connecticut Audubon is an active member. The consensus among the group is overwhelmingly in favor of strengthening this year’s proposed bill by adopting the language of last year’s bill.
Sixty-plus years ago, when Rachel Carson warned the world that DDT was likely to result in a “Silent Spring,” beautiful birds such as the Bald Eagle, Osprey and Peregrine Falcon were almost extinct. That’s no longer the case. DDT was banned, and those birds have recovered.
But we’ve learned recently that North America has lost almost 30 percent of its bird population in the last 50 years — 3 billion birds, gone. There are many causes and there will have to be many solutions. One of those causes is the over-use of pesticides such as neonics. One of those solutions will be to strictly limit their use. For Connecticut, a stronger SB 190 can be the first step in being part of that solution.
