Final week, Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voiced his assist for President Donald Trump’s government order aimed toward boosting the manufacturing of glyphosate. That is disappointing for a variety of causes — mainly that the herbicide marketed as Roundup has been deemed a “possible human carcinogen” by the World Well being Group’s Worldwide Company for Analysis on Most cancers.
The Particulars of Trump’s Government Order
Trump’s order, handed February 18, is meant to guard home manufacturing of elemental phosphorus — one of many key components used to make glyphosate-based herbicides, in addition to sure army gadgets1. It will additionally shield the manufacturing of the herbicides themselves, granting restricted authorized immunity to producers in the event that they’re following federal directives. And it will get much more surprising: the order was handed by invoking the Protection Manufacturing Act, an influence sometimes reserved for wartime emergencies.
On Sunday, Kennedy posted a press release on social media platform X acknowledging the toxicity of pesticides whereas additionally supporting Trump’s transfer by arguing it was vital for nationwide safety and stability2.
“Sadly, our agricultural system relies upon closely on these chemical compounds,” he wrote. “I assist President Trump’s Government Order to deliver agricultural chemical manufacturing again to the USA and finish our near-total reliance on adversarial nations.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s Reversal on Glyphosate
The transfer is stunning given Kennedy’s previous as an environmental lawyer, notably in view of his landmark 2018 win in opposition to Monsanto, which produced Roundup earlier than its 2018 acquisition by Bayer. Kennedy secured a $289 million jury verdict in opposition to Monsanto by arguing that the corporate knew concerning the elevated most cancers danger attributable to glyphosate publicity, which contributed to his consumer’s most cancers.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. constructed his political model by holding chemical corporations accountable for poisoning communities. Now he’s defending a federal order designed to speed up manufacturing of the very pesticide he as soon as known as harmful,” says EWG President and co-founder Ken Prepare dinner. “He has formally traded the well being of America’s youngsters for a seat on the desk of energy.”
MAHA vs. MAGA
For some consultants, this transfer deepens the schism between supporters of Kennedy’s Make America Wholesome Once more platform and the present administration.
“It’s been a yr. Not a single factor has been carried out by the EPA to cut back our youngsters’s and households publicity to pesticides,” Mothers Throughout America founder Zen Honeycutt, a outstanding MAHA activist, replied to Kennedy’s put up on X. “We love you Bobby however this administration must maintain their phrase.”
In 2014 alone, over 276 million kilos of glyphosate have been sprayed on crops within the U.S., up from 1.4 million in 1974, in response to authorities knowledge3. “Within the U.S., no pesticide has come remotely near such intensive and widespread use,” wrote the authors of a 2016 examine in Environmental Sciences Europe4.
The Environmental Safety Company’s official stance on glyphosate is that it’s unlikely to be carcinogenic to people when used as directed, although quite a few educational research have linked publicity to the chemical to an elevated danger of lymphoma particularly5.
Sources:
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/02/promoting-the-national-defense-by-ensuring-an-adequate-supply-of-elemental-phosphorus-and-glyphosate-based-herbicides/
- https://x.com/SecKennedy/standing/2025760500793909389
- https://www.consumershield.com/articles/glyphosate-usage-trends
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27752438/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31342895/
