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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> David Fischer [mailto:<a href="mailto:david.fischer@bayer.com">david.fischer@bayer.com</a>] <br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 18, 2014 10:22 PM<br><b>To:</b> Laurie Davies Adams (<a href="mailto:lda@pollinator.org">lda@pollinator.org</a>)<br><b>Subject:</b> RE: [Pollinator] White House's new Pollinator Health Task Force is accepting public comments</span></p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Somehow I got bumped off the pollinator-bounces listserv, but a colleague at another company forwarded the attached post to me. I’d appreciate it if you could post the following from me in reply.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">The campaign to ban neonicotinoid insecticides is misguided and if successful will result in billions of dollars of lost income to US farmers and increase the exposure of honey bees and other pollinators to pesticides. Use of a neonicotinoids soil or seed treatment replaces the need for multiple spray applications of foliar insecticides. The vast majority of pesticide-related bee kills have occurred as a result of foliar spraying. This is because residues in pollen and nectar of a treated plant are typically 1000 times greater when a chemical is applied as a foliar spray. This difference is obvious when one reviews the results of surveys of pesticide residue levels in bee bread samples of commercial honey bee colonies—neonicotinoids are among the least frequently detected compounds. Going back to spraying older insecticide chemistries such as organophosphates, carbamates and synthetic pyrethroids will also result in greater risks to fish and wildlife. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">There is no evidence linking neonicotinoids to bee declines. Honey bee colony numbers in the US, according to the USDA NASS, declined from 6 million colonies at the end of world war II to 2.6 million colonies in the mid 1990s, when the first neonicotnoid came on the market. Since then, HB colony numbers have remained about the same, perhaps increasing slightly in the last 10 years. Thus, the decline in honey bee colony numbers occurred <i>before</i> neonicotinoids were introduced. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">There is an ever increasing need to maximize crop yields on our existing agricultural lands in order to feed a growing world population. Neonicotinoids have become the most widely used insecticide class because they are extremely effective at controlling pest insects that may significantly reduce crop yields. What we should be telling the White House is to instruct the EPA to stick to the science and conduct an objective review of the risks and benefits of neonicotinoid products, as mandated by law. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Dave</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">_________________</span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">David L. Fischer, Ph.D.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Director, Pollinator Safety</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><img width="319" height="88" id="Grafik_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.png@01D00387.18483CC0" alt="cid:image002.png@01CEB90B.FB8A3280"></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Environmental Safety</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Development North America</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Bayer CropScience, LP</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Research Triangle Park, NC 27709</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Phone: 919-549-2843</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="mailto:david.fischer@bayer.com">david.fischer@bayer.com</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p><br><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#5f5f5f">From: </span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">David Inouye <<a href="mailto:inouye@umd.edu">inouye@umd.edu</a>></span> <br><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#5f5f5f">To: </span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><<a href="mailto:pollinator@coevolution.org">pollinator@coevolution.org</a>></span> <br><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#5f5f5f">Date: </span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">11/18/2014 01:46 PM</span> <br><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#5f5f5f">Subject: </span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">[Pollinator] White House's new Pollinator Health Task Force is accepting public comments</span> <br><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#5f5f5f">Sent by: </span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"Pollinator" <<a href="mailto:pollinator-bounces+joseph.wisk=basf.com@lists.sonic.net">pollinator-bounces+joseph.wisk=basf.com@lists.sonic.net</a>></span> </p><div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><hr size="3" width="100%" noshade style="color:#a0a0a0" align="center"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br><br><br>Word is getting around about this issue/opportunity.<br><br>David<br><br><br><b>Tell the Pollinator Health Task Force: Ban bee-killing pesticides.</b> <br><b><br>The White House's new Pollinator Health Task Force is accepting public comments for the first time on what it should do to stop the alarming collapse of bee populations. Submit a public comment now urging it to ban bee-killing pesticides.</b><u><span style="color:blue"><br></span></u><br><u><span style="color:blue"><br></span></u><br><br>Due to the use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides, <b>bees and other pollinators are dying-off at an alarming rate</b> with dire implications for our food supply and domestic agriculture industry.<br><b><br>The federal government’s response to this crisis has been totally inadequate – but that could soon change.</b> In Junee, President Obama created the Pollinator Health Task Force with the goal of focusing federal efforts to research, prevent, and recover from pollinator losses.<sup>1</sup> <br><b><br>Now, for the first time, the Pollinator Health Task Force is accepting public comments on what it should do to protect bees and other pollinators.<sup>2</sup></b> We know a ban on bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides is what’s needed to save the bees, but we only have a few days to pressure the task force to act before this crucial public comment period closes.<br><b><u><span style="color:blue"><br></span></u></b><a href="http://act.credoaction.com/sign/ban_neonics?t=3&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC"><b>Tell the Pollinator Health Task Force: Ban bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides. Click here to submit a public comment before the November 24 deadline.</b></a><br><br>Bees and other pollinators play a vital role in our food production system by enabling the production of many of the nuts, fruits and vegetables in our diets. In total, <b>pollinators make possible an astounding 35% of global food production and contribute more than $24 billion annually to the U.S. economy.</b> But the number of managed honeybee colonies in the United States has declined from 6 million in the 1940s to just 2.5 million today – jeopardizing our food supply and domestic agriculture inddustry.<sup>3</sup><br><br>That’s why President Obama tasked the secretary of agriculture and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency with co-chairing the Pollinator Health Task Force and leading the federal response to the devastating decline in populations of bees and other vital pollinators.<br><b><br>So far, both the USDA and EPA have displayed a disturbing lack of urgency when it comes to saving bees from deadly pesticides.</b> In fact, the EPA’s current plan is to continue studying neonicotinoid pesticides until 2018 before it takes action to save our pollinators.<sup>4</sup><br><br>But we can’t afford to wait four more years to do what’s necessary to save bees from deadly pesticides. With the White House paying attention to the issue and the Pollinator Health Task Force soliciting public input, <b>now is the time to demand an immediate ban on bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides.</b><br><b><u><span style="color:blue"><br></span></u></b><a href="http://act.credoaction.com/sign/ban_neonics?t=4&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC"><b>Tell the Pollinator Health Task Force: Save the bees by banning neonicotinoid pesticides. Click here now to submit a public comment before the November 24 deadline.</b></a><br><br>Thanks for fighting to save bees and other vital pollinators.<br><br>Josh Nelson, Campaign Manager<u><span style="color:blue"><br></span></u><a href="http://act.credoaction.com/go/109?t=5&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC">CREDO Action from Working Assets</a> <br><br>Add your name:<u><span style="color:blue"><br><br></span></u><a href="http://act.credoaction.com/sign/ban_neonics?nosig=1&t=7&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC">Learn more about this campaign </a><br><br>1. "<a href="http://act.credoaction.com/go/7553?t=8&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC"> New Steps to Protect Pollinators, Critical Contributors to Our Nation’s Economy</a>," The White House Blog, June 20, 2014. <br>2. "<a href="http://act.credoaction.com/go/7554?t=9&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC"> Public Listening Sessions on Pollinator Health Task Force</a>," Environmental Protection Agency. <br>3. "<a href="http://act.credoaction.com/go/7555?t=10&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC"> Fact Sheet: The Economic Challenge Posed by Declining Pollinator Populations</a>," The White House, June 20, 2014. <br>4. "<a href="http://act.credoaction.com/go/7556?t=11&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC"> Beekeepers and Public Interest Groups Sue EPA Over Bee-Toxic Pesticides</a>," Pesticide Action Network, March 21, 2013. <br>© 2014 CREDO. All rights reserved.<tt><span style="font-size:10.0pt">_______________________________________________</span></tt><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New""><br><tt>Pollinator mailing list</tt><br><tt><a href="mailto:Pollinator@lists.sonic.net">Pollinator@lists.sonic.net</a></tt><br></span><a href="https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator"><tt><span style="font-size:10.0pt">https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator</span></tt></a></p><div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><hr size="2" width="100%" align="center"></span></div><p><em><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The information contained in this e-mail is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s) and may be confidential, proprietary, and/or legally privileged. Inadvertent disclosure of this message does not constitute a waiver of any privilege. If you receive this message in error, please do not directly or indirectly use, print, copy, forward, or disclose any part of this message. Please also delete this e-mail and all copies and notify the sender. Thank you. </span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">For alternate languages please go to </span></em><a href="http://bayerdisclaimer.bayerweb.com"><em><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">http://bayerdisclaimer.bayerweb.com</span></em></a></p><div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><hr size="2" width="100%" align="center"></span></div></div></body></html>