America’s bee crisis is getting worse. And if you don’t think this affects you, think again! If Australia’s food supply is substantially owned by foreign interests and there is a food crisis in their home country, we stand to go hungry too!
Our nation’s beekeepers recently reported the largest recorded winter losses of pollinating honeybees ever — nearly 40 percent. Why are these once-thriving insects dying at some of the highest rates?
A catastrophic flood of highly toxic pesticides — neonicotinoids or “neonics” — pushed by Big Ag is a leading cause of this collapse. Studies show that neonics sicken and kill bees. Reckless use of these poisons threaten our food supply — and possibly even our health. We need to put a stop to it, and together we will.
NRDC is currently waging a courtroom battle against Trump’s EPA that aims to restrict the use of bee-killing neonic products that also threaten endangered species. But to save our pollinators, we need to stop bee-killing uses of neonics on all fronts — so we’re putting the pressure on the world’s largest manufacturer of these toxic chemicals, Bayer-Monsanto.
Tom, we’re amassing a groundswell of public pressure against Bayer-Monsanto and we need your voice to send a message to its CEO, Werner Baumann, that’s too loud to ignore. Sign our petition demanding they STOP selling bee killing neonic products!
Why is the decline of honeybees causing so much alarm? Well, the future of our food supply is at stake. In fact, 70 percent of the world’s major food crops rely on bees.
And the neonic pesticides made by Bayer-Monsanto are poisons designed to kill insects — and are so toxic that, even in minute doses, they weaken the immune and navigation systems of bees, as well as their stamina and memory, making them less likely to survive.
The European Union and Canada have already restricted use of these toxic chemicals, but Trump’s EPA has opened the floodgates for agrichemical giants like Bayer-Monsanto to make millions off this assault on our pollinators.
We’re taking on Trump’s EPA in court to restrict the use of bee-killing neonic products, but we need your powerful voice to send a loud message to Bayer-Monsanto: Stop selling these toxic bee-killing poisons.
Toxic neonic pesticides aren’t only harming bees — they could be harming us, too. Neonic residues are found in 86% of our honey, as well as on apples, cherries, strawberries, and can even be found in baby food. Federally-funded research suggests that exposure to neonics in the womb and by children could increase the risk of developmental defects, autism, heart deformations, memory loss, and muscle tremors.
But instead of protecting pollinators and our food supply, the Trump administration and his EPA are coddling big chemical companies and ignoring critical information about honeybee losses. The EPA approved continued use of these bee-killing neonic pesticides, which are already used on 190 million acres of crops, and the administration reversed bans on using neonics in all national wildlife refuges.
So while NRDC takes on Trump’s EPA and neonics in court, we need to also build public pressure on Bayer-Monsanto. Sign our petition to Werner Baumann, Bayer-Monsanto’s CEO: the American people won’t sit by as our bees are poisoned and our health is threatened.
Thanks for taking on this agrichemical behemoth with us. Your voice is critical to our success.
