Pesticides are Killing Bees
Dear ZLMC members,
I received the article below via an email from the Executive Director of the Illinois Chapter of the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and thought it would be of interest to our sangha. It documents a public health issue that has very serious consequences. It also has well-documented footnote references with clickable links.
Agrochemical companies are trying to keep harmful chemicals on the market. We're standing up against their manipulation tactics.
Neonics kill bees and other pollinators. They increase the toxicity of our air, water and soil. And there's evidence that they actually reduce crop yields.
But farmers have almost no choice but to use neonic-coated seeds each season because of pesticide company lobbying and business practices.
For the farmers who grow our food, despite their best efforts, sometimes they have no other option besides growing crops made from seeds coated in neonicotinoids -- toxic pesticides that can harm or even kill bees and other pollinators.1
Agrochemical companies that make and sell chemical products used in farming, such as fertilizer and pesticides, have made sure this is the case.
These companies lobby the government to limit or block regulation of chemical pesticides, meddle in research about the environmental impacts, and even influence Google search results about neonics to make them seem more favorable.2
We know the truth, and with that knowledge we are taking a powerful stance against bee-killing pesticide-coated seeds to save our precious pollinators. Will you help keep this campaign going strong with a donation today?
Neonics aren't in anyone's long-term interest (aside from the pockets of corporations).
They're harmful to the environment: One neonic-coated seed is toxic enough to kill a songbird. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the three most common neonics are each likely to harm more than 1,000 endangered species.3,4
Neonics don't stay put either. They can travel miles away through the air, water and soil to contaminate unknowing communities.5
And if that's not bad enough, there's growing evidence that neonics have very little benefit for farmers, and in some cases, neonics even reduce crop yields by killing the natural predators of the target pests.6
We're working to expose the truth about bee-killing neonics, give farmers safer alternatives for how they grow their crops, and protect the bees we need to pollinate our food.
You make a difference. Thank you.
Abe Scarr
Director
1. Lisa Held, "Why Farmers Use Harmful Insecticides They May Not Need," Civil Eats, October 30, 2024.
2. Lisa Held, "Why Farmers Use Harmful Insecticides They May Not Need," Civil Eats, October 30, 2024.
3. Steve Blackledge, "The loophole that lets toxic seeds kill birds and poison bees," Environment America, January 27, 2023.
4. Lisa Held, "Why Farmers Use Harmful Insecticides They May Not Need," Civil Eats, October 30, 2024.
5. Kimberly A. Stoner, "Best Management Practices for Farmers Using Seeds Treated With Neonicotinoid Insecticides," Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, January 1, 2017.
6. Steve Blackledge, "The loophole that lets toxic seeds kill birds and poison bees," Environment America, January 27, 2023.
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Namaste,
Alexander “Sandy” Macnab
Cell phone: 312-560-1420