Latest monthly update
September 29, 2003
Welcome to the September email update from the Pesticide
Reduction Initiative, a campaign to reduce pesticide use, promote sustainable
farming, and eliminate tax breaks for pesticides and fertilizers in
*** In this update
***
- Official ballot title!
- Next step: polling
- Special appeal
- Extra 10%
- Want more info? Less info?
*** Official ballot
title! ***
Last month we filed a test-run initiative to learn the ins
and outs of the process &etc; this month we got a ballot title from the
Attorney General! We don’t think it’s perfect, but it does do a pretty good job
of summing up the proposal in neutral language, which is what it’s supposed to
do. So: if we file the same initiative next year, here’s what would appear
(with a different ballot number) on the November 2004 ballot:
Initiative Measure No. 308
concerns regulation of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture. This measure would regulate pesticide and fertilizer use
in agriculture through new reporting requirements, earmarking certain funds for
pesticide and fertilizer reduction, limiting tax exemptions for pesticides and
fertilizers, and establishing a commission.
Should this measure be enacted into law?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
*** Next step:
polling ***
We are 100% focused on Part I of our strategic plan: doing
public opinion research to determine the viability of the campaign. (Good
polling numbers will also help bring organizations and other resources on
board.) We have good reason to believe that the proposal will be popular, but
we won’t know for sure until we poll on the ballot title. We have a polling
firm picked out (Grove Insight down in
*** Special appeal
***
Look at our accomplishments and you can see why we pride
ourselves on relying on volunteer time and energy rather than money. Our fabulous website, www.reducepesticides.org?
Built and run entirely by
But sometimes there’s no substitute for cash. This is one of
those times: polling will cost $10,000, and we’re asking for your help in
getting there.
The next time we’ll need cash (for printing the initiative
petitions) won’t come before January 2004. So: if you want to make a financial
contribution this year, now is the time to do it! You can donate online at www.reducepesticides.org, or send a
check to the address below. If you can contribute $25, great; if you can
contribute $100 or more, even better; if you’ve already given, thank you! And
if you can’t make a financial contribution (or even if you can) we hope you’ll
consider donating your time and energy by pledging to gather 100 signatures,
encouraging your friends and family to visit our website, and/or taking on one
of the tasks on the Help Out page of our website. Speaking of which...
*** Extra 10% ***
We’re putting 110% into this campaign, so even though we are
(as noted above) 100% focused on polling, we still
have 10% left over for other things. Like tabling at the Seattle Tilth Organic
Harvest Fair, where we collected 2500 signature pledges. And improving the
Inside the Campaign section of our webpage, where you can now find our campaign
weblog, a document archive, and a Help Out page listing tasks that you can work
on if you’ve got an hour or two to spare (examples include research, outreach,
contacting legislators, and planning celebrity visits). Check it out at www.reducepesticides.org/inside!
*** Want more info? Less info? ***
To get more information or to get further involved in the
campaign, click reply or email info@reducepesticides.org.
To get less information, i.e., to be taken off of our email list, send a
request to the same address. Other potential items of interest include our privacy policy
and the Inside the Campaign
webpage.
Regards,
Yoram Bauman
Partnership to Reduce Pesticides;
NOTE FOR CONTRIBUTORS: to comply with public disclosure
requirements, please include your address on your check or letter; for
contributions of $100 or more, please also include your occupation, your
employer, and your city and state of employment.