<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">November 11, 20009</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">Contact Laurel Hopwood, Sierra Club 216-371-9779</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">Neil Carman, Ph.D. 512-472-1767</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">Honeybees are dying and our food supply is in danger.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">Is Nicotine Bees the new Silent Spring?</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">Sierra Club welcomes the release of Nicotine Bees, a new documentary that provides an excellent synopsis of the loss of honeybees. Producers Kevin Hansen and Krista Keenan did a superb job researching, interviewing and splicing together an extraordinary story.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">One out of every three bites of food that we consume is due to the work of honeybees, serving as crucial pollinators. Yet the honeybee population has been significantly dwindling over the past few years, a phenomena known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). </p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">At issue are the nicotinyl insecticides (also known as neonicotinoids) being used in a new way - as seed coatings. For years, farmers have been spraying neonicotinoids onto their crops to stop insect infestation. Now agribusiness corporations have acquired patents to coat their proprietary corn seeds with these neonicotinoids. </p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">Neil Carman, Ph.D., scientific advisor for the Sierra Club explains, “These neonicotinoid coatings are extremely persistent. They enter the plant and are present in pollen and on droplets of water on leaves.”</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">In light of this mounting evidence, the Sierra Club has been urging the EPA to suspend approvals of these chemical treatments to protect our bees and crops, until independent scientists verify safety. Yet the EPA has refused action.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">David Hackenberg, former president of the American Beekeeping Federation, has also been urging the U.S. regulatory agencies to suspend these seed treatments. "Look at what's time based. The massive bee decimation started when regulatory agencies rubber stamped the use of neonicotinoid spraying and coating," he said.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">"Sierra Club joins the concern of beekeepers," said Laurel Hopwood, chairperson for Sierra Club’s Genetic Engineering Action Team. "It's unfortunate that regulatory agencies are using double speak. They claim to protect our food supply - yet they continue to approve seed coatings without the proper studies.”</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">Hopwood calls on every family to view Nicotine Bees and to take action. "The loss of honeybees will leave a huge void in the kitchens of the American people and an estimated loss of 14 billion dollars to farmers," said Hopwood. "We expect the EPA to do their job."</p>
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<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">To view our action, visit <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/biotech/whatsnew/whatsnew_2009-11-10.asp">http://www.sierraclub.org/biotech/whatsnew/whatsnew_2009-11-10.asp</a></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">To purchase the video or request a screening, see <a href="http://NicotineBees.com">http://NicotineBees.com</a></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial">Laurel Hopwood, Sierra Club</p>
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