France’s National Assembly just voted to totally ban this bee-killing pesticide

France’s National Assembly just narrowly approved a bill that would ban neonicotinoid pesticides, which are largely criticized for possibly causing the decrease in bee populations. The European Union already limited the use of neonicotinoid chemicals, known as neonics, two years ago after studies showed that the pesticides harmed bees, and now France wants to do away with them completely.

The bill, which is a biodiversity bill that is supported by France’s Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, Ségolène Royal, would completely ban all use of neonics on crops by September 2018. Other environmental proposals, such as increasing the taxes on palm oil.

Critics of the bill, including the producers of the pesticides, Bayer CropScience and Syngenta, have been quick to say that the studies of the neonics’ effects on bee populations are inconclusive and some have offered alternatives to the total ban.

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