Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data.
While I appreciated Mike McFeely's lighthearted take on the recent decision by the City of Moorhead to delay aerial spraying for mosquitoes, I think his column minimized legitimate concerns from "radical leftist environmentalists."
While many who spoke at the council meeting mentioned monarch butterflies -- the most visible casualties of the city's last spraying -- the effects of the pesticide applied are fatal to ALL insects it has contact with, not just the beautiful and charismatic, but also the small, humble and yes, annoying.
Those insects don't just gratify our Disney Princess fantasies; they are also vital in pollinating over 100 food crops grown across the United States. They provide important support to innumerable other creatures up the food chain. It may be possible to sustain ourselves on commodities like soybeans and feed corn, but while I enjoy watching the birds and butterflies populating my garden, I also appreciate the insects' contribution to the formation of that other Minnesota summertime staple: zucchini squash.
Speakers also mentioned personal concerns about the spraying. Some people with asthma may be more sensitive to aerial spray than others and resent having to tolerate those worries for the benefit of people who want to walk their dog without applying repellent to themselves.
The city points out that in addition to using repellent, individuals can take other measures to help reduce the mosquito population. Mosquitoes need only a tiny quantity of standing water to breed in, so it's a great idea to check your yard periodically and ensure that you aren't supplying them any incubation sites in those empty cans that blew across the street from your neighbor's trash. You can lure mosquitoes to a bucket of doom that incorporates a mosquito dunk, which only affects mosquito larvae.
In contrast to all the collateral damage the aerial spraying does, I'd ask for some confirmation that city residents are getting their money's worth of benefits. Each application costs Moorhead tens of thousands of dollars. If it was really that effective, shouldn't we have eradicated the despised bugs by now? Where is the data showing the massive reduction in numbers following each spraying?
Lastly, Mayor Shelly Carlson explained that the pause was not in direct response to citizen consternation, but rather because Moorhead has a formal policy in place to regulate the spraying. That policy specifies a permethrin concentration, and the spray that the contractor was preparing to apply exceeded that concentration. Permitting the spraying would have violated city policy.