As the MAHA movement, spearheaded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., gains power and influence within the GOP, efforts to limit liability for the pesticide industry are also growing on numerous fronts.
The issue is coming to a head in Congress, at the Supreme Court and on the state level, while other Republicans remain at the forefront of pushing pro-pesticide policies.
"I don't know what these Republicans are thinking, because this is a really powerful conservative movement that doesn't want this, and I think that they don't have the memo yet that they need to be lining up with MAHA, because they really stand to lose their seat," activist Kelly Ryerson said.
One such provision -- which would have sought to prevent pesticides from carrying warnings on their label of health effects beyond those recognized by the EPA -- was recently left out of a funding bill that's expected to become law.
But the issue is expected to crop up again in the farm bill.
Asked whether the issue will appear again in this year's anticipated farm bill effort, a House Agriculture Committee aide said Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) "intends to address the issue of pesticide labeling uniformity in Farm Bill 2.0."
The aide said this will include updated language to "make it crystal clear that bad actors can still be penalized and held liable, while still bringing regulatory certainty to the marketplace."
The issue is also taking shape at the state level.
Republican governors in Georgia and North Dakota have already signed bills into law that shield pesticide makers from lawsuits.
Similar legislation has been proposed in states including Tennessee, North Carolina, Iowa, Florida and Missouri.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is weighing whether to take a case that similarly seeks to preclude failure-to-warn claims under the argument that any state-level requirements are preempted by the federal label.
Bayer asked the court to take the case, urging it to overturn a lower court ruling that it had to pay damages for failing to disclose information about the health impacts of Roundup.
The Trump administration has backed Bayer's bid.
Read more at TheHill.com.
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