Lucas,
Do you hear that buzzing sound?
No?
That's because the world's bee population is dying off.
Take action today with our partners at Friends of the Earth to save the bees.
We are in the midst of a global bee-death epidemic — called Colony Collapse Disorder — that could have devastating consequences for ecosystems and food supplies worldwide.
And it's looking more and more like toxic pesticides made by multinational chemical companies may be to blame.
Public Citizen is joining with Friends of the Earth to petition first lady Michelle Obama to set an example by banning bee-killing pesticides from the White House gardens.
In the United States alone, a third of all agricultural crops are dependent on bee pollination.
Without enough bees, we'll see everyday foods like almonds, apples, strawberries and many more disappearing from grocery store shelves.
Scientists who have been scrambling to figure out what's killing the bees are increasingly pointing to the world's most common class of pesticides — which are manufactured and marketed by chemical giants like Bayer, Aventis and Syngenta — as a key contributor to the crisis.
The European Union has already enacted a two-year ban on these chemicals, but our own Environmental Protection Agency is delaying action for another five years.
At the disastrous rates bees are dying off, five years could be too late. Sign Friends of the Earth's petition to Michelle Obama right now.
Thank you.
Onward,
Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen