ACTIVISM NEWSLETTER #10

Dear James,

Scientists don't often use words like "conclusive" or "impossible to deny." I know -- both my parents are scientists, and they almost never talk in absolutes.

But that's exactly what researchers are saying in a just-released study about toxic bee-killing pesticides called neonicotinoids (or "neonics"). ^[1] So poisonous, so destructive -- this stuff is like DDT for bees.

Every year, we lose 30% of our honey bees. ^[2] This is a big deal because bees help produce every third bite of food we take. ^[3] Just this past winter, states like Michigan and Indiana lost more than 60% of their bee populations.

This report should be all we need to stop using these poisons. But Monsanto and Bayer -- the corporations that manufacture these pesticides -- are peddling their lies to our lawmakers, saying these pesticides are totally benign. If we're going to win -- and we really don't have a choice -- it will only be because of SierraRise supporters like you.

Save our bees -- and help save our planet's food supply! Join the Sierra Club with a gift of $15 or more and turbo-charge the SierraRise campaign to save the bees beforemidnight Thursday.

Acting like a nerve agent, Bayer and Monsanto's neonics compromise a bee's ability to feed and make its way back to the hive. ^[4] This latest research joins other independent, unbiased studies that have linked this group of deadly chemicals to colony collapse disorder.

Stopping Monsanto won't be easy. But we have a plan:

This kind of grassroots campaigning works. It's why we've been able to stave off Big Oil's biggest priority of the decade -- building the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline -- stop Shell Oil from drilling in the Arctic in 2014, and protect the endangered Florida Panther from oil drilling in their critical habitat. No matter how hard they push, no matter how much money they spend, no matter how much influence they exert on lawmakers -- YOUR voices have routinely stopped the corporate polluters.

We need to go out just as big and push just as hard if we're going to save our bees and stop Monsanto and Bayer.

When you join the Sierra Club by August 28, you will receive a free Sierra Club 1892 Backpack as a token of our appreciation. You will also receive members-only benefits like a one-year subscription to SIERRAmagazine (my favorite magazine even before I joined the staff, you'll love it!), eco-travel opportunities, automatic membership in your local chapter, and discounts on Sierra Club calendars, books, and other merchandise.

Please help save our bees by chipping in to reach the $20,000 goal. Join the Sierra Club now!

In it together,

Nathan Empsall
SierraRise Senior Campaigner


References:

1. Leahy, Stephen (2014 June 24). "How 'the New DDT' Wreaks Havoc on the Bottom of the Food Chain." Motherboard.

2. vanEnglesdorp, Dennis et al (2014 May 23). "Honey Bee Colony Losses in the United States, 2013-2014." Bee Informed.

3. Grossman, Elizabeth (2013 April 30). "Declining Bee Populations Pose A Threat to Global Agriculture." Yale e360.

4. Eban, Catherine (2010 October 10). "What a Scientist Didn't Tell the New York Times About His Study on Bee Deaths."CommonDreams.

Photo credit: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0