>>> CORPIROSOS IS A BROAD SPECTRUM INSECTICIDE.
SPECTRUM INSECTICIDE. IT’S ESSENTIALLY A NERVE AGENT
IN THE SAME CLASS OF CHEMICALS
AS SARIN GAS.
IT CAN CAUSE NAUSEA AND
DIZZINESS AND CONFUSION.
IN HIGH DOSES, IT CAN CAUSE
VOMITING, CONVULSIONS,
VOMITING, CONVULSIONS, RESPIRATORY ARREST, EVEN DEATH.
THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THIS
PESTICIDE SAY THAT IN NORMAL
LOW-LEVEL DOSES IT’S PERFECTLY
SAFE.
SAFE. SOME AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS SAY
THE SCIENCE IS NOT CONCLUSIVE.
PART OF WHY IT’S SO HARD TO DRAW
A CONCLUSION IS THE PESTICIDE IS
TOO TOXIC TO BE TESTED ON
HUMANS.
HUMANS. IT’S ALREADY BANNED FOR MOST
HOUSEHOLD USES, BUT CHLORPYOFOS
IS ALL OVER DOSS OF AMERICAN
FARMS.
FARMS. SO A FEW YEARS AGO THE EPA
DECIDED TO STUDY WHETHER IT WAS
SAFE TO DUMP ALL THAT PESTICIDE
INTO THE AIR AND ON TO OUR FOOD.
HAND THE EPA FOUND WAS KIND OF
ALARMING.
ALARMING. THEY LOOKED A THE RESEARCH THAT
WAS DONE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,
AND THIS WAS THE HEADLINE FROM
THE COLUMBIA STUDY.
COMMON PESTICIDE DISTURBS THE
BRAINS OF CHILDREN.
THE EPA CAME TO A SIMILAR
CONCLUSION.
CONCLUSION. THEY FOUND THAT EXPOSURE TO
CHLROPYORFOS HAD HAD SIGNIFICANT
LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES, LIKE
DECLINES IN LEARNING AND MEMORY,
ESPECIALLY ON PEOPLE WHO WORK ON
FARMS WHERE THE PESTICIDE IS
USED.
USED. SO THE EPA SUGGESTED BANNING THE
USE OF CHLORPYROFOS ON ALL FOOD
CROPS, FULL STOP.
BUT THAT BAN NEVER HAPPENED
BECAUSE DONALD TRUMP BECAME
PRESIDENT.
PRESIDENT. HE PICKED SCOTT PRUITT TO RUN
THE EPA.
THE EPA. AND ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS, THE
VERY FIRST THING SCOTT PRUITT
DID AS HEAD OF THAT AGENCY WAS
TO KILL THAT BAN OF THAT
PESTICIDE, WITH THE POTENTIAL TO
DISTURB THE BRAINS OF CHILDREN.
HE SAID THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH
SCIENCE TO JUSTIFY A BLANKET
BAN, DESPITE WHAT THE EXPERTS AT
THE EPA HAD FOUND BEFORE HE GOT
THERE.
THERE. IF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAD
NOT QUASHED THAT BAN, WE WOULD
BE ENTERING OUR SECOND YEAR IN
THIS COUNTRY WITHOUT A DROP OF
THAT CHEMICAL TOUCHING OUR
CROPS.
CROPS. INSTEAD, THE PESTICIDE HOSES ARE
STILL ON, AND "THE NEW YORK
TIMES" HAS DONE SOME REMARKABLE
REPORTING ON WHAT THAT LOOKS
LIKE FOR AMERICANS ON THE
GROUND.
GROUND. QUOTE, IN MAY OF 2015, VISENTA
RIVERA WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO
FEEL IT.
FEEL IT. IT HAS BEEN SPRAYED ON A GROVE
OF MANDARIN ORANGES.
NUMB LIPS, ITCHY SKIN AND WATERY
EYES.
EYES. THE HEADACHE SET IN QUICKLY.
A 37-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF THREE
REMEMBERS THE SMELL, THE
DIZZINESS, THE OVERWHELMING
FEELING OF NAUSEA.
OTHER WORKERS THOUGHT SHE WAS
FAKING IT, TRYING TO BE FUNNY
WHEN SHE HIT THE GROUND AND
STARTED CONVULSING.
STARTED CONVULSING. WHEN THE INVISIBLE BUT TOXIC
CLOUD OF CHLORPYRIFOS ARRIVED,
SHE THOUGHT SHE SMELLED GREASE
OR BURNED OIL.
BELIEVING IT WAS THE TRACTOR,
SHE TURNED OFF THE ENGINE.
CAME THE BURNING, THE ITCHING
THE NAUSEA.
THE NAUSEA. SHE CALLED A SUPERVISOR ON THE
PHONE WHO TOLD HER TO GET HER
CREW OUT OF THE FIELD.
BUT BY THEN SEVERAL WERE
VOMITING, TWO OR THREE FAINTED.
"THE NEW YORK TIMES" JUST
DROPPED THIS CROYLE BODY OF WORK
TODAY DOCUMENTING HOW THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION IS UNWINDING
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS AT A
BREAKNECK PACE.
BREAKNECK PACE. THEY DOCUMENTED THE EFFECTS OF
THOSE ROLLBACKS, THE EFFECTS
THEY’RE HAVING ON REAL PEOPLE IN
PAINSTAKING DETAIL.
PAINSTAKING DETAIL. AND IT’S NOT JUST PLUMES OF
PESTICIDES IN THE CALIFORNIA
ORANGE FIELDS.
ORANGE FIELDS. JOINING US NOW IS ERIC LIPTON,
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER FOR "THE
NEW YORK TIMES" AND ONE OF THE
REPORTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS
EXCELLENT ENDEAVOR.
EXCELLENT ENDEAVOR. ERIC, GREAT TO HAVE YOU WITH US.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH.
>> SO THAT WAS JUST A LITTLE BIT
OF YOUR REPORTING ON THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION NOT TO BAN THIS
PESTICIDE, OUR NEW SPELLING WORD
OF THE DAY, CHLORPYROFOS.
IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY’RE DOING
IN TERMS OF THE ENVIRONMENT, CAN
YOU GIVE US A FEW OF THE
HIGHLIGHTS OR MAYBE THE
LOW-LIGHTS?
LOW-LIGHTS? >> SURE.
>> SURE. WE’VE READ SO MUCH ABOUT
PROPOSALS FOR CHANGES IN
ENVIRONMENTAL RULES.
ENVIRONMENTAL RULES. WHAT WE FOUND WHEN WE WENT AND
LOOKED ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
IS THERE ARE REAL IMPACTS THAT
ARE HAPPENING.
ARE HAPPENING. FOR EXAMPLE, IN NORTH DAKOTA,
THERE WAS A PROPOSAL BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR TO LIMIT
THE FLARING AND LEAKS OF NATURAL
GAS WHEN THERE IS OIL AND
DRILLING GOING ON.
AND IN NORTH DAKOTA, THERE HAS
BEEN A MASSIVE INCREASE IN THE
AMOUNT OF FLARING ON AN INDIAN
RESERVATION THERE THAT WOULD
HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO AN INTERIOR
DEPARTMENT RULE THAT LIMITED
THAT FLARING AND THOSE LEAKS, BE
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
BASICALLY ELIMINATED ALL OF
THOSE LIMITS ON FLARING, AND I
WENT AND VISITED THAT
RESERVATION IN NOVEMBER, AND YOU
THOUGHT THE HILLSIDES WERE ON
FIRE.
FIRE. I MEAN, THE FLARES WERE BURNING
EVERYWHERE YOU LOOKED, HUNDREDS
OF FLARES BURNING.
30% OF THE NATURAL GAS THAT THEY
PRODUCE THERE IS BEING BURNED.
IT’S ENOUGH TO POWER 600,000
HOMES PER MONTH.
IT’S JUST BEING BURNED INTO THE
AIR.
AIR. AT TIMES THERE ARE CHEMICALS
THAT ARE LEAKING THAT ARE
CARCINOGENS GOING INTO THE AIR.
IT’S AN INCREDIBLE SCENE.
IT’S QUITE TERRIFYING, IN FACT,
BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT’S NO
LONGER BEING REGULATED BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
>> AND WE KNOW THAT THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION, THAT DONALD
TRUMP CAME IN TOUTING COAL.
HE WAS GOING TO SOMEHOW BRING
BACK THIS 19th AND 20th CENTURY
PRODUCT AND MAKE IT, YOU KNOW,
PROFITABLE AGAIN.
PROFITABLE AGAIN. TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THE
ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN DOING ON
COAL IN TERMS OF THE
ENVIRONMENT, AND HAS THAT IN
FACT BROUGHT BACK THE INDUSTRY?
>> I MEAN, IF IS THERE A SINGLE
INDUSTRY THAT THE ADMINISTRATION
HAS ATTEMPTED TO HELP OUT, IT’S
THE COAL INDUSTRY.
AND OF THE AREAS THAT WE LOOKED
IN BOTH TEXAS AND IN WEST
VIRGINIA, WE FOUND EXAMPLES.
THERE IS A REGULATION THAT IS
SUPPOSED TO REDUCE THE TOXIC
METALS BEING RELEASED IN THE
RIVERS IN THE UNITED STATES.
IT WAS A SINGLE BIGGEST SOURCE
OF TOXIC POLLUTANTS GOING IN THE
RIVERS THAT RULE HAS BEEN
DELAYED.
DELAYED. 80 DIFFERENT POWER PLANTS IN THE
UNITED STATES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE
UPGRADING THEIR WASTE TREATMENT
PROGRAMS.
PROGRAMS. MOST HAVE NOW STOPPED THE DESIGN
WORKS ON THOSE IMPROVEMENTS
BECAUSE OF THIS DELAY THE EPA
PUT.
PUT. IN TEXAS, I VISITED A POWER
PLANT THAT WAS GOING HAVE TO
UPGRADE ITS AIR POLLUTION
CONTROL SYSTEM TO PRODUCE SULFUR
DIOXIDE WHICH IS CONTRIBUTED TO
PERHAPS 170 DEATHS A YEAR CAN BE
ATTRIBUTED TO THIS PLANT BECAUSE
OF THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF SULFUR
DIOXIDE IT’S EMITTING EACH YEAR.
THE EPA UNDER OBAMA SAID THAT
PLANT IS GOING TO HAVE TO
INSTALL WHAT’S CALLED THE
SCRUBBER TO REDUCE THAT SULFUR
DIOXIDE.
DIOXIDE. THE TRUMP EPA SAYS NO LONGER
NECESSARY.
NECESSARY. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT.
THERE ARE NINE PLANTS THAT WERE
GOING TO HAVE TO INSTALL
SCRUBBERS IN TEXAS.
THOSE ARE NO LONGER GOING TO
HAVE TO HAPPEN.
THAT’S ANOTHER CHANGE.
BUT THE THING, BOTH OF THOSE
THINGS WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP THE
COAL INDUSTRY, BUT THEN THE
ENERGY DEPARTMENT REPORTED JUST
A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO COAL
PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES
DECLINED MORE IN THE LAST YEAR
THAN IT HAS IN DECADES.
SO THE UNITED STATES CONTINUES
TO TURN AWAY FROM COAL, EVEN
THOUGH TRUMP SAID THAT HE IS
ENDING THE WAR ON COAL.
>> WOW.
>> WOW. GREAT REPORTING.
GREAT REPORTING. ERIC LIPTON, INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTER FOR "THE NEW YORK
TIMES."
TIMES." I RECOMMEND EVERYONE READ IT.
IT’S SOBERING READING, BUT THANK
YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THAT WORK.
APPRECIATE IT.
APPRECIATE IT. >> THANK YOU.
>> THANK YOU.
>>> WHEN WE COME BACK, FORMER
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA ON THE
VERGE OF MAKING HISTORY AGAIN IN
A WHOLE NEW WAY.