Geno, yeah, the lawyers can run amok with such things. I'll leave that to them.
Ecosystem effects are one of the issues I have concerns about. If one where to think you just spray it a little, it does its job and vanishes they would be very misinformed. Don't get me confused with bunny huggers. I like them fried, thanks.
One will find that virtually w/o exception the array of herbicides in use in this country do not simply vanish after use. If they find their way into soils or sediments via runoff or leaching into the aquifer they become stable until released elsewhere thru natural processes. The document linked above containing the long list of such things found in local waters is far from comprehensive and the major contributor for all pollutants listed is local Ag activities. These things attack micro/macro invertebrates to various degrees in the process and as a result the food chain foundation develops a few cracks along the way. I look at it as an economic issue primarily and one of priorities.
Back around 2008 the Florida DEP issued the 305B report IAW the Clean Water Act and part of that included the 303d List (impaired waters). At that time the state claimed that virtually all coastal inshore waters were impaired for a variety of reasons, and more than 80% of inland waters as well. It is a circumstance common across the USA these days. The executive summary of the 303d List included estimated contribution of the state's waters to our annual gross product. For inland and near shore coastal waters the number was in excess of $600 billion. Ag contribution estimates are estimated around $100 billion annually. Simple to figure out which goose laid the golden egg, no? 50 years ago most of our waters were relatively clean, the springs were clear and wildlife abundant. Toxic algae outbreaks on our coasts were unheard of and not 1/10th of a percent of the residents had ever heard of flesh eating bacteria. Those days are gone.
Back in the late '70s to early '80s I had a day job as a corporate pilot and night job as a commercial fisherman on the east coast of Florida. My income from fishing was over twice that of the flying job, working 3-4 nights/week at the former. You can't catch a frickin' cold in those waters these days unless one is inclined to dance in the rain around January....nude.
To reiterate my point(s) or perhaps clarify them a bit, we have some serious issues at hand that will require some hard choices to be made, this on a national level. If we, as a people, put it on the ground, it's going to have consequences. If we take steps to make things greener, bug & weed free, it has consequences. I don't have any reason to think that Roundup has had direct impact of a negative sort on my life, but am remarkably skeptical about the idea that it is innocent across the broad reach of this country. It is a poison and its residue is in our food. It is not a legacy I want to pass on to future generations, and I know for a fact there are alternatives. Question is, do we have the strength to change course?
BTW, I have survived 3 bouts with cancer, two of which were lymphomas. My doc is perplexed each year I drop by for a checkup. You see, I was supposed to be dead 8 years ago.
