US To Push For Continued Methyl Bromide Use Through 2007, Ozone Be Damned

The United States is spearheading calls for the continued use of methyl bromide as a pesticide. Methyl bromide is the last ozone-depleting chemical remaining in widespread use and it was due to be phased out completely in developed countries this year.

Under the terms of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, countries agreed to remove from use several chemicals that attack the ozone layer. But when parties to the treaty meet on 12 December in Dakar, Senegal, delegates will consider a US request to use more than 6,500 tonnes of methyl bromide during 2007. North America uses more of the substance than anywhere in the world, mostly as a pesticide on strawberries, tomatoes and other crops.

Other countries, including Australia and Japan, have also asked for exemptions in the past, but the United States has led the pack: its requests for 2005 use are more than all others combined.

To some, such outsized requests reflect US capitulation to pressure from farming groups and methyl bromide manufacturers. "It's the first serious effort to break out of the treaty," says David Doniger, a policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington DC. Doniger is heading a lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency for failing to comply with parts of the treaty.

EDIT

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051128/full/051128-13.html