Last day! Tell EPA to protect bees.

Details: Published on Monday, 14 March 2016 12:30; Written by editor

r1 ...

It’s long past time for the agency to get this right.

Dear Paov,

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finally taking a closer look at how neonicotinoids impact honey bees and other pollinators.

Unfortunately, it looks like the agency is still missing the forest for the trees.

Sign on our petition today, urging EPA to get this right! We'll deliver your signature before the comment period closes on March 15.

In its initial findings on Bayer’s imidacloprid — one of the most widely used neonics in the world — EPA does acknowledge some harm to bees. But it’s still discounting the impacts of exposure over time, as well as the effects of multiple pesticides in combination.

Speak up! We know from independent studies that neonics impact pollinators in many ways, alone and in combination with other pesticides. Make sure EPA follows the science and takes decisive action to protect bees, now.

Regulators are also ignoring the most widespread use of neonics — seed coating on many conventional and genetically engineered crops — because EPA doesn’t technically define this as a “pesticide application.”

Given that more than 90% of corn and over half of all soy planted in the U.S. is coated with neonics before planting, this is a huge oversight. Tell EPA to protect bees from neonics. And fast.

We rely on bees to pollinate one in three bites of food we eat. Yet these and other vital pollinators continue to die off at alarming rates. Many factors are at play in this crisis, but science clearly shows that pesticides are a key part of the problem.

EPA has the authority — and the responsibility — to put meaningful pollinator protections in place once and for all.

Thank you for keeping this important issue front and center.