BASF

=<div></div><div><a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/these-corporations-have-biggest-influence-climate-policy">http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/these-corporations-have-biggest-influence-climate-policy</a></div><div>
</div><div> report's key findings:<ul><li>35 of the 50 most influential are actively lobbying against climate policy. They include companies in the fossil fuel value chain (ExxonMobil, Valero Energy, Chevron), energy intensive companies (BASF, ArcelorMittal, Bayer, Dow Chemical and Solvay) and electric utilities with large amounts of coal generating capacity (Southern Company, Duke Energy and American Electric Power).</li></ul></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div></div><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/whistleblower-lawsuit-chemical-companies-2005784783.html">http://www.ecowatch.com/whistleblower-lawsuit-chemical-companies-2005784783.html</a>...BASF Corporation, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/bayer-buys-monsanto-2004657068.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Bayer</a> Material Science LLC, Dow Chemical Company and Huntsman International LLC have been named in a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit brought by New York law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP on behalf of the U.S. government.
EcoWatch learned that the recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuit was served on the chemical companies on Wednesday. The lawsuit was <a href="http://www.law360.com/articles/831315/kasowitz-benson-says-chem-cos-hid-risks-owe-billions" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">originally filed</a> under seal in federal court in Northern California.Kasowitz brought this action on behalf of itself and the federal government to recover more than $90 billion in damages and penalties under the FCA, which imposes penalties for concealing obligations to the government.According to a copy of the lawsuit seen by EcoWatch, "Each of these companies is separately liable to the United States Government for billions of dollars in civil reporting penalties, which continue to accumulate by tens of thousands of dollars daily, and for billions of dollars in similarly increasing breach of contract damages." ... BASF fungi bees4/16
<a href="http://www.globalpossibilities.org/this-is-your-brain-on-fungicides/">http://www.globalpossibilities.org/this-is-your-brain-on-fungicides/</a>
<div class="story-column">

While Republicans are actively trying to <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/04/the-truth-about-the-republican-war-on-caterpillars/255522/" target="_blank">bring back DDT</a> to

please big agriculture, concern is growing about other pesticides and

fungicides that are already out there. In your food. In your body. <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2016/04/what-are-these-widely-used-fungicides-doing-us" target="_blank">In your brain</a>.

<blockquote>… a team of University of North Carolina Neuroscience

Center researchers led by Mark Zylka subjected mouse cortical neuron

cultures—which are similar in cellular and molecular terms to the the

human brain—to 294 chemicals “commonly found in the environment and on

food.” The idea was to see whether any of them triggered changes that

mimicked patterns found in brain samples from people with autism,

advanced age, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.</blockquote>

This is initial research, and obviously mouse brain samples in a test

tube aren’t the greatest analog for what happens in a living human

mind. Still, among the chemicals tested, eight showed up as triggering

degenerative effects. And among those eight were a couple of

brand-spanking-new fungicides introduced into the U.S. only within this

century. One of those, BASF’s “Headline” (pyraclostrobin), is now widely

used on everything from corn and beans to fruit. There’s also

Bayer’s trifloxystrobin, which is used on pretty much everything from

grapes down to grass grown for hay. Both of these new chemicals

routinely appear in USDA food samples.

</div>

<div class="story-intro-divider"> As you might guess, both chemical

manufacturers claim that the research doesn’t actually indicate how

their new products affect humans. However, while we don’t know for sure

that these compounds cause the kind of degenerative effects on human

minds seen in the lab, we do know that they do more than just

kill fungus.</div>

<blockquote>Oklahoma State researchers found BASF’s

pyraclostrobin-based fungicide Headline deadly to tadpoles at levels

frequently encountered in ponds. And a 2013 study by German and Swiss

researchers found that frogs sprayed with Headline at the rate

recommended on the label die within an hour—a stunning result for a

chemical meant to kill funguses, not frogs. …</blockquote>

Studies also indicate that honeybees which gathered pollen from

plants treated with these new chemicals are more likely to die from

common infections. Meaning that the growing use of these compounds could

be a contributor to the noted decrease in honeybees across both

America and Europe.

So the chemical kills bees, frogs, who knows what else, and possibly

rots your brain. Tell me again: Why did farmers start using this new

class of fungicides so recently?

<blockquote>“Headline fungicide helps growers control diseases and

improve overall Plant Health. That means potentially higher yields,

better ROI and, ultimately, better profits,” BASF”s website states. “It

can help secure a family’s future, fund a college education, finance an

equipment upgrade, or maybe buy just a bit more of a vacation for the

whole family.”</blockquote>

Marketing. Possibly the only threat greater than pollution.

You try telling a farm family that they can’t spray a chemical that’s

going to “fund a college education” for one of their children. That’s a

hard call. Of course, once subjected to these compounds, college

might be hard—for more than just financial reasons.

</div>

</div>
The following contributions were reported by CAN Europe:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_money_in_politics#cite_note-ThinkG-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[5]</a><ul style="line-height: 19.2px; list-style-type: square; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaauaaaancamaaabw4ls6aaaagxrfwhrtb2z0d2fyzqbbzg9izsbjbwfnzvjlywr5ccllpaaaaazqtfrfafkm="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANCAMAAABW4lS6AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAAZQTFRFAFKM" qiuk9qaaaaj0uk5t="QIUK9QAAAAJ0Uk5T" wdltzbkaaaagkleqvr42mjgbaegokggbjbgbxbxsbqaaamachwald5r8ygaaaaasuvork5cyii="); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bayer" title="Bayer" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">Bayer</a> (Germany)<ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: square; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANCAMAAABW4lS6AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAAZQTFRFAFKM////QIUK9QAAAAJ0Uk5T/wDltzBKAAAAGklEQVR42mJgBAEGokgGBjBGBxBxsBqAAAMACHwALd5r8ygAAAAASUVORK5CYII=);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Support to climate deniers in US Senate: $43,200</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Support to Senators blocking cap and trade: $78,200</li></ul></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/BASF" title="BASF" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">BASF</a> (Germany)<ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: square; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANCAMAAABW4lS6AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAAZQTFRFAFKM////QIUK9QAAAAJ0Uk5T/wDltzBKAAAAGklEQVR42mJgBAEGokgGBjBGBxBxsBqAAAMACHwALd5r8ygAAAAASUVORK5CYII=);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Support to climate deniers in US Senate: $25,000</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Support to Senators blocking cap and trade: $50,500</li></ul></li></ul>===The European Union will limit the use of yet another bee-endangering insecticide, part of its <a href="http://grist.org/news/beleaguered-bees-catch-break-as-eu-bans-dangerous-pesticides/">efforts to protect pollinators</a> from agricultural poisons.

The use of fipronil, a nerve agent produced by German company BASF

and widely applied by farmers to kill insect pests, will be outlawed

on corn and sunflower seeds and fields across Europe. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/16/eu-pesticides-bees-idUSL6N0FM2H620130716" target="_blank">From Reuters</a>:

<blockquote>The restrictions take effect from Dec. 31 but seeds which have already been treated can be sown until the end of February 2014.

</blockquote>
===State of play – The European Union

Carbon-intensive companies and their apologists, such as

BusinessEurope, Cefic and Eurofer and the Alliance for a

Competitive European Industry*, continue to block serious

progress on climate policies.

• The EU has been embroiled in an effort to increase

its emissions reductions target for 2020 to 30% from

20%, but this new target has been undermined by

the heavy lobbying by carbon-intensive industrial

players, including BASF, ArcelorMittal and Business

Europe. These companies and their associations not

only exert their influence to hold back progress but

are boldly reframing the debates despite economic

analysis and reports that show the economic benefits

to taking action on climate change. This report reveals

how, despite EU Commission analysis showing the

economic benefits of a 30% emissions reduction target,

BusinessEurope and others have been successful in

holding back action by creating a false debate on the

‘de-industrialisation of Europe’.

• ArcelorMittal has been granted very generous

emission allowances, so large that the excess

allowances by 2012 are likely to overtake

Belgium’s annual emissions, and ArcelorMittal

is set to profit highly from sales or banking of

these unused allowances. These pollution ‘gifts’

– for which ArcelorMittal paid nothing – were the

result of ArcelorMittal’s and its predecessors’ close

relationship to and lobbying of the governments in

the countries it operates in, all while it undermines the

public understanding of climate science by financially

supporting US Senate candidates denying climate

change or blocking climate change legislation.24

<a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/climate/2011/WhosHoldingUsBack-ExecSummary.pdf">http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/climate/2011/WhosHoldingUsBack-ExecSummary.pdf</a>

Member of WBCSD, BusinessEurope, Cefic

Anti-climate activities:

Actions against: 30% 2020 target in the EU;

US climate and energy legislation; Canadian

climate legislation; EU regulation on cleaner

fuels through Canadian government;

campaigning in favour of privileged access

in international negotiations; supported

strategically US Senate candidates who

have been outspoken in their opposition to

comprehensive climate policy in the US, and

candidates who actively deny the scientific

consensus that climate change is happening

and is caused by people .