| In light of new evidence showing that the pesticide clothianidin poses a significant danger to bees, EPA should take immediate action to suspend its use. | |
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|
Bees have been dying off in the US at an alarming rate — nearly 30% of our bee population, per year, have been lost
to so-called colony collapse since 2006.
Scientists have long thought that the pesticide clothianidin was at least partially to blame.1 But the EPA has
repeatedly ignored scientists' warnings and Americans' urgings to ban its use, citing lack of evidence.
Now, a blockbuster study released last week by Europe's leading food safety authority, EFSA, has for the first time labeled
clothianidin as an "unacceptable" danger to bees.2
The EFSA study could be a major breakthrough to convince the EPA to take emergency action, and suspend the use of clothianidin
to stop the precipitous decline in global honeybee populations.
In addition to finding clothianidin too dangerous to use on plants pollinated by bees, EFSA's study specifically identifies
as too flawed to be useful the shoddy studies provided by pesticide manufacturer Bayer as evidence of clothianidin's safety.3
It was these sham studies that EPA used to first approve clothianidin in
2003, even against the objections of EPA's own scientists.4
The pesticide, which is used to treat seeds like corn and canola, expresses itself through the plants' pollen and nectar
— the honeybee's favorite sources of food. Clothianidin is in a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which are
relatively new, and their use coincides with the rise of colony collapse.
If EPA does not take emergency action now, it won't review clothianidin again until 2018.
Given the rate of colony collapse, and the indispensable role that pollinators play in our food system — pollinating
one-third of our food crops and providing literally billions of dollars in economic benefit — it would be stunningly
irresponsible of EPA to continue allowing the use of this dangerous pesticide for at least another five years.
Click below to automatically sign the petition urging EPA to take immediate action now:
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6995405&p=efsa_bees&id=54110-4993481-m9e3oOx&t=4
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6995405&p=efsa_bees&id=54110-4993481-m9e3oOx&t=4
Thank you for speaking out for the bees.
Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
CREDO Action from Working Assets
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| Learn more about this campaign |
1. "
Insecticide 'unacceptable' danger to bees, report finds," Guardian, 1/16/13
2. "Pesticides and Honey Bees: State of the Science," Pesticide Action Network North America
3. "European Agency concludes neonicotinoid pesticides too dangerous for bees," NRDC, 1/16/13
4. "Leaked document shows EPA allowed bee-toxic pesticide despite own scientists' red flags," Grist, 12/10/10
2. "Pesticides and Honey Bees: State of the Science," Pesticide Action Network North America
3. "European Agency concludes neonicotinoid pesticides too dangerous for bees," NRDC, 1/16/13
4. "Leaked document shows EPA allowed bee-toxic pesticide despite own scientists' red flags," Grist, 12/10/10
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North
Pacific right whales, among the world's most endangered marine mammals,
are finally getting a federal recovery plan. The National Marine
Fisheries Service proposed the recovery plan this week, after the Center
for Biological Diversity threatened to sue last March because of agency
delays.
In 
The
female in Utah's only breeding pair of endangered California condors
has been found dead at Zion National Park. Investigators are trying to
determine whether the 9-year-old bird, known as Condor 343, died from
lead poisoning, which is the leading cause of death for condors in
northern Arizona and southern Utah. The birds ingest lead when they
scavenge game that's been shot with lead hunting ammunition.
The
Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against the National
Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday for failing to develop a recovery
plan for elkhorn and staghorn corals. The corals were protected under
the Endangered Species Act in 2006, in response to a Center petition,
but still lack a recovery plan -- a necessary blueprint for their
recovery. 
White-nose
syndrome, the deadly malady that has killed millions of bats in caves
across the nation, has been found at Mammoth Cave National Park in
Kentucky. Last week's discovery is the latest chilling example of the
spread of the disease that was first discovered in the United States in a
cave in upstate New York in 2006 and has since been found in 19 U.S.
states, nine national parks and four Canadian provinces and killed
almost 7 million bats. 
Organized
by the Center for Biological Diversity, more than 48,000 people this
week urged a cruel "rattlesnake roundup" in Georgia to transition to a
wildlife-friendly festival where no snakes are killed. The roundups are
barbaric contests that feature the capture and slaughter of large
numbers of native snakes. 
Fewer
than 50 Sierra Nevada red foxes are known to exist in the high
mountains of California and Oregon. These slight, alpine foxes are
unique from all others in North America -- and one of the most
endangered mammals in the world. Yet more than a year after the Center
for Biological Diversity filed a petition to federally protect the
animals in April 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to
announce their safeguards. Because the agency neglected its Endangered
Species Act deadline -- and this fox doesn't have time to wait -- the
Center last week filed a notice of intent to sue the agency.
Official air-quality readings in Beijing, China have topped out at nearly 40 times
the World Health Organization's safe limit. On the worst days, a
seemingly impenetrable brown cloud envelops the capital city,
skyscrapers stand shrouded, and area hospitals fill with patients
suffering respiratory sickness.
