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When officials from 122 countries come together next week to move forward with phasing out a group of dangerous chemicals, the United States will be on the sidelines yet again.

The U.S. government will participate as an "observer" at the second meeting of the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), May 1-5 in Geneva Switzerland. The U.S. signed the landmark treaty five years ago this month, but the ratification process has become mired in Congressional politics and efforts to put industry concerns above protecting our health.

Take action now! Send a letter to your Representative in Congress telling them the U.S. should participate in the Stockholm Convention without undermining the treaty's goals.

For the U.S. to ratify the treaty, federal laws governing industrial chemicals and pesticides must be amended. Two of the bills currently under consideration to make these changes have two very different agendas. Congressman Paul Gillmor's bill (HR 4591) ignores the Precautionary Principle, an important concept underlying the Stockholm Convention, and undermines states' rights for protecting their people from toxins. In contrast, Congresswoman Hilda Solis' bill (HR 4800) places public health protections over business interests. These bills modify the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which regulates industrial chemicals. The bills proposing changes to FIFRA (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act), the law that governs pesticide use, also fall short of what is needed to reassert U.S. leadership on POPs.

The Stockholm Convention is a landmark treaty that will phase out an entire class of dangerous pollutants that threaten our health and the environment. The U.S. must join the world community in tackling these toxics and protecting the health of current and future generations. Write your Representative today! For more information, see: http://panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20060427.dv.html

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