Hey NRDC Activist,

If you care about bees, you're going to want to hear this:

Right now, the EPA is deciding what to do about neonic pesticides. Those are the pesticides that play a leading role in wiping out bee and butterfly populations. Scientists say these chemicals are among the most ecologically disastrous pesticides since DDT (yeah, that same DDT that was so toxic the EPA banned it in the 70s!).

The EPA only does this review of neonics once every fifteen years! That means raising your voice right now will make a really big difference for bees and butterflies.

I just sent my letter telling the EPA to save our pollinators by restricting toxic, bee-killing neonic pesticides. Will you join me and send yours? Help NRDC submit 20,000 letters by Monday, July 31, to really put the pressure on the agency.

Neonic pesticide use skyrocketed in the mid-2000s, and that's exactly when beekeepers started sounding the alarm that large portions of their honeybee hives were disappearing. But it gets even worse.

An alarming new EPA analysis revealed that the three most commonly used neonics are likely pushing 200+ endangered and threatened species toward extinction. That includes the rusty patched bumble bee, Hine's emerald dragonfly, and Karner blue butterfly.

Bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat — like many fruits, nuts, and vegetables. And as we rapidly lose bees and other pollinators, we're seeing crop yields decline for foods like blueberries, cherries, and apples.

Less bees = less food, which could lead to rising food costs and reduced access to healthy foods that would hit low-income communities and communities of color hardest.

I've heard enough about neonics to know we need to dramatically curb their use. If you're with me, will you send a letter to the EPA?

Demand the EPA restrict the use of neonic pesticides and save bees, butterflies, and other pollinators from extinction. Take action now and help us flood the EPA's office with 20,000 letters by July 31.

If you're wondering just how toxic these pesticides are, get this:

Just one corn seed coated with neonics can contain enough toxin to kill a quarter of a million bees! And right now, these pesticides are approved for use everywhere: lawns, parks, gardens, trees in urban and suburban areas, and on 140 crops.

No wonder bees are dropping like flies.

With the EPA undergoing its once-in-a-fifteen-year review of these killer neonic pesticides, we've got to bury their office in letters demanding they take action.

Join me and let's push the EPA to do its job to protect pollinators and the web of life that sustains us.

Thanks for your help. I'm glad NRDC has you on their side.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Board Member, NRDC