You are here
Home >Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

A SMALL POLLINATOR, A BIG PROBLEM — Millions of bees are dying off every year, and scientists point to a widely used class of pesticides as one of the main causes.
Our Food Supply Relies On Bees
We have to stop the bee die-off and help this vitally important species recover, for the sake of our food, the environment and our economy.
Bees are dying in the United States and around the world, and it’s a major problem. We rely on bees to pollinate 71 of the 100 crops that provide 90 percent of the world’s food. In the U.S. alone, honey bees pollinate an estimated $15 billion worth of crops every year.
We rely on bees to pollinate everything from strawberries to broccoli to the alfalfa used to feed dairy cows. Imagine no almonds, less coffee and chocolate, fewer apples and strawberries, less ice cream and milk … the list goes on.
The bottom line: without bees, we don’t have food.
10,000 Times More Toxic To Bees Than DDT
Scientists point to pesticides as one of the main factors causing bees to die off in alarming numbers, in particular a class of bee-killing insecticides known as neonicotinoids (or neonics).
When seeds are treated with neonics, the chemicals work their way into the pollen and nectar of the plants — which, of course, is bad news for bees and other pollinators.
Worse, neonics are at least 5,000-10,000 times more toxic to bees than DDT.
Just one example: After a nearby farm planted corn seeds coated with neonics in 2013, farmer Dave Schuit lost 37 million of his bees. “Once the corn started to get planted, our bees died by the millions,” said Schuit.
We Can Eliminate These Pesticides
Given the consequences for our farms and our food, you’d think we’d be doing all we can to protect bees and other pollinators from neonics.
Scientists say that we don’t even need to spray these chemicals, since we have commonsense alternatives like altering the time of planting and watering, and planting more native species.
Yet big agrichemical companies like Monsanto, Dow Chemical, Bayer and Syngenta are fighting to prevent bans. Syngenta has even asked federal regulators for permission to use even larger quantities of these pesticides — as much as 400 times more than currently allowed.
Alarmed by the role these chemicals are playing in the decline of bee populations, the European Union has banned several of them; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has committed to phasing them out on the public lands they manage; and cities like Seattle and states like Maryland have taken action as well.
Still, even with evidence showing that neonics need to be banned, we continue to spray about 46 million pounds of these pesticides on our homes, gardens and public spaces every year.
It’s Time For States To Take Action
For the past several years, PIRG and other groups have asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban these pesticides nationwide, and they have failed to do so. We’re not waiting on the EPA any longer. Now, to protect bees and our food supply, we're calling on states to act.
In order to restore bee populations to health and save our food supply, we need states to ban the sale of bee-killing pesticides for our homes, parks and gardens and ensure that they are not used on state property.
If enough states take action, we will eliminate the use of more than 40 percent of insecticides used in this country. That’s a lot of bees that we can save — bees that will pollinate our food.
That kind of collective action will be a strong signal to large chemical companies and the federal government that we want them to stop poisoning our parks, homes and food with these products.
Right now, we’re spraying chemicals that are known to kill bees just as we’re in the midst of an unsustainable die-off in bee populations. That has to change — now.
Join us in calling on Gov. Brown to take action to protect bees and our food.
Issue updates
We all play a role in creating food waste, so we can all be part of the solution.
A new report examines how the transition to electric school buses, in addition to keeping diesel exhaust out of kids' developing lungs, could help speed up the expansion of clean energy by providing a critical source of reliable battery storage.
The more these chemicals are used, the more they build up and the bigger the threat they pose.
Public Health
Gas stoves are even worse for health and climate than previously thought
We're urging Best Buy, the third-largest appliance retailer in the U.S., to better inform its customers about the health risk of gas stoves. New research shows that children living in homes with gas cooking have a 24% higher chance over their lifetime of being diagnosed with asthma.
Public Health
CALPIRG's new toolkit will help schools Get the Lead Out
Now that California has the funds to get the lead out of children's drinking water, we distributed a toolkit to help leaders use $200 million lead exposures from school drinking water.
Public Health
Gov. Newsom signs CALPIRG-backed bill to create nation's strictest lead limits
Californians will soon have less lead in their drinking water after Gov. Newsom signed CALPIRG-backed lead leaching limits into law. These new restrictions are the strictest in the country and will help address the health problems caused by the heavy metal.
Public Health
Victory! CALPIRG-backed bill to strengthen lead restrictions clears state Senate
For years, California has failed to address lead in school drinking water. But our leaders have a chance to change that and protect the health of our children by passing a CALPIRG-backed ban on the sale of water faucets and fixtures that leach excess lead.
Latest Reports
Tools & Resources
-
Lead Free Schools - Oakland Support Letter
CALPIRG Education Fund -
Letter to Dept of Pesticide Regulation about Chlorpyrifos
Public Comment in Support of Proposal to List Chlorpyrifos as a Toxic Air Contaminant
Support Us
Your donation supports CALPIRG’s work to stand up for consumers on the issues that matter, especially when powerful interests are blocking progress.