Dear NRDC Activist,

There are barely enough bees available each year to pollinate key food crops.

The grim reality is that honeybee populations are in disastrous decline, and a leading factor is the unrelenting torrent of bee-toxic pesticides — called neonics — pushed by agrochemical giants like Bayer.

That's not all: Widespread die-offs of bees and other vital pollinators could lead to increased food prices and reduced access to healthier foods, which will hit low-income communities and communities of color especially hard.

Giant agrochemical corporations, with their army of lobbyists, have spent decades fighting any and all attempts to rein in the use of their dangerous pesticide products — and the Environmental Protection Agency has let them get away with it for years.

But with a new administration in charge, NRDC is calling on the EPA to start putting pollinators and people ahead of industry profits by banning bee-killing uses of neonics. And we need your support to fight back against the chemical giants' influence however we need to — from the halls of Washington to the courts.

Please rush a tax-deductible gift today to support our fight to save pollinators and defend our environment on all fronts. If you become a Monthly Partner before March 31, every dollar of your first THREE gifts will be matched, up to $250,000.

We'll put it right to work, building a groundswell of public support in defense of imperiled pollinators, sounding the alarm in the media about the risks neonics pose to our food supply, particularly for communities already suffering from food scarcity, and taking the fight all the way to federal court if necessary.

The damage caused by neonics cannot be overstated.

Acute exposure to the pesticide can kill bees directly — some neonics are 5,000 to 10,000 more toxic to bees than DDT. Chronic exposure also weakens bees, making it harder for them to forage for food, find their way back to their hive, combat parasites and disease, and survive winter.

It's not just honeybees that suffer: scientists have been ringing alarm bells about drastic declines in other pollinators, like wild bees, butterflies, and songbirds.

Yet, as pollinator populations decline, neonic sales have soared. Neonics are now the most heavily used class of insecticides in the United States and applied to an estimated 150 million acres of crops each year.

NRDC is working around the clock to make sure the EPA bans bee-killing uses of neonics once and for all — the future of our food supply depends on it. But we can't win this all-out fight to turn the tide on Big Ag's chemical juggernaut without your support.

Become a Monthly Partner today and your first three gifts for the environment will be DOUBLED to help us outmaneuver Bayer and other big chemical makers, galvanize the public, and make sure the EPA puts science — and the future of our food supply — before Big Ag's profits. Please, give today so that we can defend our environment on all fronts.

We must stop the pesticide onslaught that is wiping out bees and threatening our food supply — for the sake of our pollinators, our communities, and our health. And with your support, I know we can win.

Sincerely,

Mitch Bernard
President, NRDC