Fwd: Pesticide Threatens Bees, Your Food

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rodger Schlickeisen, Defenders of Wildlife <defenders@mail.defenders.org>
Date: 2011/1/19
Subject: Pesticide Threatens Bees, Your Food

Dear Wildlife Supporter, Our honeybees are in trouble. These amazing creatures -- whose pollinating is so important to the production of so much of our food supplies -- are disappearing at an alarming rate. That's why Defenders of Wildlife has joined with our good friends at CREDO Action in a desperate effort to save them. Please read the message below from CREDO Action and take action  right now to save our honeybees. -- Rodger Schlickeisen, President, Defenders of Wildlife

Ban the pesticide that's wiping out honey bees. The bee population is on the verge of collapse. Add your name to this petition to the E.P.A.: The E.P.A. must immediately ban clothianidin and conduct a full, independently verified scientific review on the effect of this pesticide and other neonicotenoids' impact on honey bees and other non-target species. Dear friend, Since 2006, U.S. honey bee populations have been in precipitous decline, with some estimates suggesting losses as high as 30% per year.1 While that's terrible, the problem is far greater than just the loss of a species. Without bees, a big piece of our food supply is in serious danger. Pollination by honey bees is key in cultivating the crops that produce a full one-third of our food. Scientists have been scrambling to understand the crisis -- termed Colony Collapse Disorder -- but have yet to find a single, definitive cause. There are likely multiple interacting causes, and mounting evidence suggests that one widely used class of pesticides may be a critical factor. One such chemical, called clothianidin, is produced by the German corporation Bayer CropScience. It is used as a treatment on crop seeds, including corn and canola, and works by expressing itself in the plants' pollen and nectar. Not coincidentally, these are honey bees' favorite sources of food. Shockingly, no major independent study has verified the safety of this pesticide. While clothianidin has been used on corn -- the largest crop in the U.S. -- since 2003, it was officially approved by the Environmental Protection Agency last year on the basis of a single study, conducted by Bayer. However, recently leaked documents show that the study was actually debunked by the agency's own scientists, so the pesticide was effectively approved with no scientific backing.2 It is outrageous that the E.P.A. is putting a vital species, the livelihoods of farmers and beekeepers, and our very food supply at risk just so Bayer can peddle its pesticide. Click here to sign the petition asking the E.P.A. to immediately issue a ban on clothianidin. When clothianidin first came to market, there was little or no scientific review of its effect on the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allowed "conditional registration" in 2003 but requested additional study to establish the safety of the chemical. Bayer, the producer of the chemical, conducted one such study, and without public notice, the E.P.A. granted unconditional use in early 2010. But E.P.A. documents3 leaked at the end of last year expose a more sordid story. Agency scientists who reviewed Bayer's study determined that the evidence was by no means sound, and even downgraded the study to a level at which it should not have been allowed as the basis for an unconditional approval of the pesticide. Additional independent studies have shown that neonicotinoid pesticides like clothianidin are highly toxic to honey bees, providing compelling evidence that they should be immediately taken off the market until the E.P.A. can conduct a full and valid scientific review. This appears to be a case of the E.P.A. catering to the needs of a large chemical corporation at the expense of a lynchpin species in our ecosystem. France, Italy, Slovenia, and Germany -- the home of Bayer -- have already banned clothianidin. The stakes are simply too high to continue the use of this chemical in the absence of any scientifically verified evidence that it is safe to use. Click here to sign the petition telling the E.P.A. to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee and other non-target populations. Thank you for speaking out to protect the honey bees and our food supply. Adam Klaus, Campaign Manager CREDO Action 1 secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder 2 www.grist.org/article/food-2010-12-10-leaked-documents-show-epa-allowed-bee-toxic-pesticide- 3 www.panna.org/sites/default/files/Memo_Nov2010_Clothianidin.pdf Share on Facebook Post to your feed wall Tweet this Post to Twitter

© Copyright 2011, Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities.

Defenders of Wildlife can be contacted at:
1130 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Att.,
Anne Brito

VOCÊ pode salvar uma vida!

"Sou só uma, mas ainda assim sou uma.

Não posso fazer tudo, mas posso fazer alguma coisa.

E por, não poder fazer tudo, não deixarei de fazer o pouco q posso."

Nada + Nada = NADA
Pouco + Pouco = MUITO

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