LETTER

Using lies to rebuke David Suzuki

 

When reading Pierre Petelle’s rebuttal of the David Suzuki Foundation, people need to keep in mind that this man is a paid spokesperson for the chemical industry. While this doesn’t automatically make him a liar, his own letter is proof that he has a very loose grasp of reality. For instance, his statement that returning to sustainable agricultural practices will mean a return to a time when “soil erosion was epidemic” is nonsense. According to the UN Environmental Program, 24% of global land has suffered declines in the last quarter century, a period of time that saw the large scale replacement of traditional farming and farmers with industrial farming (IF). Virtually every source that I could access indicates that erosion and desertification are growing problems. Of course, IF is a major contributor to the greenhouse gases, accelerating global warming which is resulting in rising oceans and extreme weather, both of which contribute to soil erosion.  

 

Then there is his other whopper that bee populations “were actually much less robust then they are now.” Numerous recent studies have proven that bee populations around the globe are stumbling, and that the most likely culprit is the neonicotinoids produced by the chemical industry. Add to that a slew of other negative impacts, such as the rapid depletion of potable water resources, the loss of biodiversity and widespread pollution from fertilizer and pesticide run-off, and it is obvious that the practices of industrial farming in complicity with the chemical industry are completely unsustainable. 

 

David Desjardins

Aylmer