Has the Circle of Life become the Circle of Death?

So I’m reading the news and I see an article about Oregon temporarily banning pesticides that kill bees. We had a huge amount die in a Wilsonville parking lot a short time ago. Today I read something that seems to tie the bee homicides to pesticides..both by spraying as well as pesticide infused seeds. The so-called circle of life has now become the circle of death. Once the bees go, so does the planet. You know. Pollination. We sorta need it.

We do some cool stuff in Oregon. We recycle. We use alternative forms of transportation. We like organic stuff. Evidently we’re a beer and wine mecca as well. We’re a model for the country with our health insurance exchange. The legislature had a good session where they improved our cannabis laws and told SCOTUS what they could do with their Citizen’s United decision. We have vote by mail (and we love it). We do things to protect our environment. The pesticide decision is not surprising.

But I wonder, when did scholarship and research become elitist and uncool? I thought we were supposed to aspire to achieve excellence. We have to stop turning a blind eye to what’s clearly going on. The research is there. We know that genetically modifying our food supply isn’t working out so well. Whoever thought that infusing seeds with chemicals for any purpose was a good idea was insane. A recent news report talked about pig stomachs having serious issues after being fed GMO feed..corn, I believe. And then we consume the pork and whatever else that’s there.

We need another approach to feeding the planet. We cannot genetically manipulate our way to that end. At least not the way we’re currently doing that. Science isn’t supposed to kill us. It’s supposed to elevate us. If Oregon can come up with some positive things, surely the other states can do the same. Ooh, and then maybe the states can, you know, share ideas..

We’d all be the better for it.