"Pesticide Industry Ramps Up Lobbying in Bid to Pare EPA Rules"

"The pesticide industry is applying extra doses of lobbying in an effort to eradicate federal requirements it considers harmful.

CropLife America -- the trade group for Dow Chemical Co., DuPont, Monsanto Co. and other pesticide makers -- aims to influence dozens of measures, from safe food and drinking water rules to toxic chemical regulations and antiterrorism laws.

The organization in the last three months of 2010 significantly ramped up persuasion efforts. CropLife America in that period spent nearly $751,000 on lobbying, a 58 percent increase from a year earlier.

The spending came as the industry saw signals that regulation could increase, analysts said."

Anne C. Mulkern reports for Greenwire February 24, 2011.