Help save the bees: Tell your legislators to co-sponsor the Saving America's Pollinators Act!

The Saving America’s Pollinators Act is a crucial next step towards stopping the decline of important pollinators like bees, birds, and butterflies. It will ban the use of bee-toxic systemic insecticides, create an independent body to review bee-toxic pesticides and hold the EPA accountable to doing its job.

This is the type of bold legislation we need to avoid further environmental disaster. But you can be sure pesticide giants like Bayer will lobby hard to stop this bill. So, legislators need to hear from concerned constituents like you to counter their message. Can we count on your support?

Dear Representative,

Bees and other pollinators are dying at alarming rates. As your constituent, I urge you to co-sponsor Saving America’s Pollinators Act of 2019, introduced by Representative Blumenauer, to help protect pollinators, our environment and our food supply. This bill would ban the use of systemic insecticides contributing to pollinator decline, establish an independent pollinator protection board to review these pesticides and produce annual reports on the health and status of pollinator populations.

In light of a recent ground-breaking study that estimates over 40% of insect species are declining at a rate of extinction eight times faster than other animals, it is more important than ever to preserve pollinators and their habitats. This comprehensive global meta-study concluded that if current rates of insect decline aren’t curbed, we could lose most insect species over the next century, causing “catastrophic ecological collapse” as well as collapse of our food system. The authors of this study noted that this rapid decline of insects is part of one of the largest extinction events in Earth’s history, and is primarily driven by intensive agriculture coupled with the overuse of synthetic pesticides like neonicotinoids. On the heels of this meta-study, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations published a report warning that the state of the world’s biodiversity threatens our food security, nutrition, health, livelihood and environment.

Pollinators are essential to an abundant food supply. Bees and other pollinators are responsible for one in every three bites of food we eat. These and other pollinators contribute as much as $577 billion in global food production and nearly $24 billion in the U.S. alone. Without them we would run short of many of our healthiest foods such as apples, almonds and blueberries.

The U.N. estimates 40 percent of invertebrate pollinator species, including bees and butterflies, are on the brink of extinction. In recent years, beekeepers have lost an average of 40 percent of their hives with some beekeepers losing 100 percent of their operations. Over the last twenty years, monarch butterfly populations have declined by nearly 90 percent. Native bees are dying at alarming rates too. In March 2017, the rusty patched bumble bee was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act after having declined 87 percent in recent years. While this is an important step forward, all pollinator species need your help.

A large and growing body of science has implicated neonicotinoids as a leading factor of bee declines. These pesticides are widely used in agriculture, applied on 140 crops as well as in gardens and landscapes. Acute exposure to these pesticides can directly kill bees and make them more vulnerable to pests, pathogens and other stressors while impairing their foraging and feeding abilities, reproduction and memory.

The science clearly demonstrates that these pesticides contribute to bee declines. In January 2017, the EPA released its aquatic and non-pollinator risk assessment of neonicotinoids, which found that most usages of neonicotinoids on currently registered crops resulted in risks to freshwater invertebrates that exceeded levels of concern. Further, the EPA released a preliminary assessment of on-field exposures to the neonicotinoid pesticide thiamethoxam, which found that all uses of the pesticide — foliar, soil and seed applications — resulted in exposures that surpassed the level of concern for acute and chronic risk to adult bees. However, the agency has taken no steps to restrict the use of these products.

Another recent study found neonicotinoids in about three-quarters of samples from 10 major Great Lakes tributaries and suggests the Great Lakes’ fish, birds, and entire ecosystem might be at risk. Recently the U.S. Geological Survey found that neonicotinoid pesticides are in tap water and that their byproducts and metabolites may be more toxic than original compounds. This is alarming because neonicotinoids are the most widely-used insecticide in the world. In addition to our tap water, studies find residues of these pesticides on our food. Further, neonicotinoids are associated with endocrine disruption and may affect the developing fetus and child, possibly leading to changes in behavior and attention, including an association with autism spectrum disorder.

The science is evident that these pesticides are toxic and are jeopardizing our ecosystems, food system and public health. These studies add to the large body of research that demonstrate neonicotinoids are a key part of the problem that must be addressed. Saving America’s Pollinator Act of 2019 would help address this issue. In response to mounting evidence and growing consumer demand, the European Union and Canada banned neonicotinoids. Maryland, Connecticut and Minnesota have all placed restrictions on their use. In addition to these states, more than 100 municipalities and universities in the U.S. have restricted use of neonicotinoids and glyphosate. Further, more than 140 retailers including the two largest home improvement retailers in the world, Home Depot and Lowe’s, as well as Walmart, True Value, Kroger, Ace Hardware, Costco, Whole Foods and BJ’s Wholesale Club have eliminated neonicotinoids on garden plants and/or products.

It is vitally important that you cosponsor Saving America’s Pollinator Act of 2019 and advocate for its passage this year. The reasonable steps in this bill will help protect the health of people, pollinators, and the planet.

Sincerely, 
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