Our nation's farmland is now 48 times more toxic to pollinators than it was 25 years ago. The biggest culprit? Neonics -- a class of pesticide that wreak havoc on bees' nervous systems and take down entire hives.1 Yet the vast majority of soybean, corn and cotton seeds -- up to 80% -- are coated in these toxic pesticides before they ever reach the ground.2 In fact, it's often difficult for farmers to find seeds that haven't been coated in neonics.3 And a single corn seed contains enough toxins to kill 80,000 bees.4 But how exactly do those seeds go from being planted to killing pollinators?
Throughout its life cycle, only about 5% of a coated seed's pesticides end up in the growing plant -- leaving 95% of toxic neonics to leach into our soil, air or local waterways.6 And after all that, what do we get in return? It turns out, not much. By the Environmental Protection Agency's own estimation, neonic seed treatments on soybeans offer "little or no overall benefit" in terms of yield.7 We're facing a shocking decline in bee populations nationwide. If we continue to pump our ecosystems full of toxic chemicals that drift through the air, soak into the soil, run directly into our waterways and poison creatures as they go, bees won't stand a chance. It's time to eliminate the use of neonics in our agriculture and give bees the chance they need to survive. Thank you, Lisa Frank Your donation will be used to support all of our campaigns to protect the environment, from saving the bees and protecting public lands, to standing up for clean water and fighting climate change. None of our work would be possible without supporters like you. |
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