butterflies

Generic drugs, monumental decisions and zombie butterflies + this day in history w/the Halifax explosion and our song of the day by The James Hunter Six on your Morning Monarchy for December 6, 2017.

The number of Zika cases spread by mosquito bites in Florida has risen to 25, and with the number expected to rise further, airplanes have been flying over Miami spraying naled, a neurotoxic insecticide which kills adult mosquitoes. Some scientists are warning that naled may be more dangerous than the Zika virus itself.

Another city in the United States is taking necessary measures to protect our pollinating insects – which are essential for the growth of many crops, and a healthy food supply overall. St. Paul, Minnesota recently approved a resolution which is meant to encourage the township and citizens to limit the use of harmful pesticides and add more native plants in landscaping.

Boulder City, Colorado has just become the first locality in the state to pass a comprehensive resolution banning the use of bee- and butterfly-killing neonicotinoids.

Lowe’s and Home Depot were recently targeted in a campaign by activists urging the stores to stop selling neonicotinoid pesticides, a likely culprit in the decimation of bee and butterfly colonies. It looks as if at least one of the mega retailers listened.

The very company that scientists say has directly contributed to a 90% reduction in the monarch butterfly population is now donating to ‘help save the butterflies.’