Senate Bill 1245 provided protections to pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits by Idahoans. The legislation— proposed by pharmaceutical and pesticide manufacturing company Bayer— has had similar bills to itself introduced and passed in other largely agricultural states.
The bill failed in a 15 to 19 vote Thursday, February 15th, 2024.
These attempts come amidst major lawsuits against Bayer-Monsanto regarding their continued production of RoundUp, a brand of weed killer commony used in residential and agricultural settings.
The World Health Organization has ranked glyphosate, RoundUp’s key ingredient, as a group 2A carcinogen, which means “a substance that probably causes cancer in people”.
The Group 2A classification has prompted mass litigation in the United States against Monsanto and has promted severe restrictions of glyphosate's use in the European Union, with pending discussions on an all-out ban.
Sources referenced in episode one:
https://www.lawsuit-information-center.com/roundup-lawsuit.html
https://legislature.idaho.gov/legislators/membership/2023/id52/
https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2024/legislation/s1245/
https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2024/legislation/h0653/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/bayer-notches-more-wins-roundup-weedkiller-cancer-trials-2024-03-06/
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/who-iarc-glyphosate/
