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Dear Friend,
The Trump administration just approved the widespread use of the bee-killing pesticide sulfoxaflor, ignoring mountains of research on the devastating global bee die-off.
This comes after the Trump administration shut down one of the most important federal studies on honeybee populations and repealed a ban on bee-killing pesticides in wildlife refuges.
The massive global bee die-off remains one of the least-reported environmental catastrophes ever, threatening ecosystems as well as our food supply.
Last year, beekeepers reported the greatest bee die-off ever, with a stunning 40 percent of the hives lost. At a time when we need to be taking action to protect bees, Trump is only making a dangerous situation worse.
Sulfoxaflor attacks the central nervous system of bees, and a study published in the journal Nature found that exposure to sulfoxaflor reduced bee reproduction by 54 percent.
As Rebecca Boehm from the Union of Concerned Scientists said, "This is yet another example of the Trump administration systematically undermining federal research on food safety, farm productivity, and the public interest writ large."
EPA approval of sulfoxaflor was blocked in 2015 following a lawsuit by beekeepers, but under former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, the Trump administration began routinely issuing "emergency" exemptions to corporate agribusiness.
Now EPA administrator and former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler has given approval for sweeping applications of sulfoxaflor, putting bee populations at risk all over the country.
Thank you for all you do,
Kimberly Monaghan
Board Chair
for the whole Common Dreams news team
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