The chemophobes who run California are at it again, siding with environmental activists and pseudoscience rather than evidence and common sense. The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment announced last month that it was adding the weed-killer glyphosate to its list of chemicals that purportedly cause cancer. Glyphosate — sold as Roundup and under other brand names — is one of the world’s most widely used herbicides. It has been safely killing weeds on farms, in yards and in public areas for the last several decades. Right now, you can find it at your local home improvement store; but in California next year, in addition to its current 14-page label, those bottles will carry this warning: “Contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects and other reproductive harm” — even though there is no persuasive evidence for that claim. (The decision is being challenged in a California appellate court by Monsanto, the maker of Roundup.) Read more.
