Dear Anonymous,

The latest research on bees shows that a class of toxic pesticides called neonicotinoids, or neonics, causes permanent and irreversible damage to baby bumblebees' brains.1

Using brain scans of bumblebees, scientists found that consuming food contaminated with neonics caused parts of the brain to grow less. This impaired bees' ability to learn, navigate and forage as adults.2

Our most important pollinators should be protected from -- not poisoned by -- toxic pesticides. That's why we're mobilizing to collect thousands of public comments to show the Environmental Protection Agency that Colorado wants bees protected -- but there are just a few days left for public input.

Give a gift this Earth Day to save the bees, other wildlife, and the wild places they call home. Will you donate to Environment Colorado's Earth Day Drive to keep all our campaigns to protect the environment going strong?

Thank you for all you do,

Hannah Collazo
State Director

P.S. Our work to defend the environment can't stop and won't stop in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. We'll keep advocating on your behalf -- at a safe social distance -- for clean air, clean water, clean energy, wildlife and open spaces, and a livable climate.

1. Katie Hunt, "Pesticides damage the brains of baby bees, new research finds," CNN, March 3, 2020.
2. Katie Hunt, "Pesticides damage the brains of baby bees, new research finds," CNN, March 3, 2020.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Environment Colorado <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Apr 17, 2020
Subject: Half the bumblebee population gone since the first Earth Day
To: Anonymous Donor <[email protected]>

Anonymous,

Fifty years ago, the world celebrated the first Earth Day, and since that day, we've made enormous progress to clean our air and water.

But it's not all good news. In fact, since the first Earth Day, the country has lost half of its bumblebee population.1

Bees are a critical part of our ecosystem -- but the bee population is being decimated by bee-killing pesticides. That's why we've dedicated this Earth Day to banning the worst uses of neonicotinoids and saving these precious pollinators.

Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency is inviting public comments on the use of neonicotinoids, and we have to use every tool available to collect as many comments as possible to stop these bee-killers from being reapproved.

Will you donate today to our Earth Day Drive?

We've known for years that neonicotinoids have contributed to colony collapse for bees, but just recently, scientists discovered that the pesticides harm bee brains from birth, resulting in adult bees with impaired function.2 Not only do colonies die off, but bees dosed with neonicotinoids are unable to pollinate correctly while they live.

And it's not just bees that suffer. Researchers have connected the chemicals to deaths in fisheries and of bird populations that eat contaminated foods.3

The effects of neonicotinoids on wildlife are so severe that the European Union banned them entirely in 2018. But the pesticide industry lobby has kept these bee-killers in wide circulation in the United States.4

Right now, the EPA is considering reauthorizing the widespread use of four of the most-used neonicotinoids, and the agency is only taking public comments until May 4 -- and that means we need to gear up to make sure they hear that Coloradans want bees to be protected.

We can't save the Earth without saving the bees. Will you donate to Environment Colorado's Earth Day Drive to keep all our campaigns to protect the environment going strong?

Thank you,

Hannah Collazo
State Director

1. Chris Mooney, "Bumblebees are dying across North America and Europe as the climate warms, scientists say," The Washington Post, February 6, 2020.
2. Katie Hunt, "Pesticides damage the brains of baby bees, new research finds," CNN, March 3, 2020.
3. Douglas Main, "How the world's most widely used insecticide led to a fishery collapse," National Geographic, November 13, 2019.
4. Lee Fang, "The playbook for poisoning the Earth," The Intercept, January 18, 2020.