Buzz Update
Feds Not Serious About Bee Die-off
Honeybees are critical to production of some
130 food crops, adding $15 billion to their
value. Last winter, U.S. beekeepers sur-
veyed by the Agricultural Research Service
reported a total loss of 36 percent of their
honeybee colonies, up 13.5 percent from the
previous winter. It’s been over two years since
Florida beekeeper Dave Hackenberg first alerted
authorities to the mysterious disappearance of bees,
now known worldwide as Colony Collapse Disorder, but promised research fund-
ing has failed to materialize.
One suspected culprit is a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, marketed
since the 1990s. Banned by France, Italy, Germany and Slovenia, they are still
used on 120 U.S. crops. Studies show that neonicotinoids impair bees’ naviga-
tional and foraging abilities.
Entomologist Kimberly Stoner, with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment
Station, notes that standards here differ from those in Europe, where countries op-
erate under a policy of precautionary principle. “It says that when there is enough
data to have a serious suspicion of harm, you can go ahead and act, without hav-
ing to have absolute proof of harm,” says Stoner. “It puts the burden of proof more
on people who market pesticides to show that the claim is unfounded. Here, you
have to show proof of harm.”
Primary Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture and Palm Beach Post.
Giving Back Business Philanthropy
More than a quarter of wealthy business owners recently surveyed by SunTrust
Bank said they have allocated funds for green investment. Nearly a third
have personally invested in green funds. Pollution and energy
policy are their two main drivers, complemented by a
personal desire to do good.
Sixty-nine percent of the two hundred business
owners canvassed said they plan to maintain their
current level of environmental giving, even if the eco-
nomic downturn moderately affects their businesses.
Source: GreenBiz.com.
Wireless E-reader
Amazon’s Kindle Feels Like Reading a Book
“Books are the last bastion of analog,” says Jeff Bezos,
CEO of Amazon.com. So, he’s set out to accelerate the
digital revolution in how readers read, writers write and
publishers publish. Although not the first on the market,
the handheld Kindle e-reader ups the ante by going wireless. With
the dimensions of a paperback and weighing just 10.3 ounces, it even emulates a
book’s binding. Because it has a reflective surface, more like paper than a comput-
er monitor, the screen has the clarity of a printed page, and its type can be instant-
ly enlarged. The Kindle runs cool and quiet for up to 30 hours per battery charge.
Currently, readers can wirelessly download 190,000 titles, plus blogs, maga-
zines and newspapers, for a low cost, tree-free. Bestsellers and new releases can
be had for less than $10. Users can even venture out onto the Web for content.
Remarks Bezos, “The vision is that you should be able to get any book—not
just any book in print, but any book that’s ever been in print—on this device in
less than a minute.”
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