[Pollinator] FW: White House's new Pollinator Health Task Force is accepting public comments

Wed Nov 19 19:29:49 PST 2014

*From:* David Fischer [mailto:david.fischer at bayer.com]
*Sent:* Tuesday, November 18, 2014 10:22 PM
*To:* Laurie Davies Adams (lda at pollinator.org)
*Subject:* RE: [Pollinator] White House's new Pollinator Health Task Force
is accepting public comments

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.

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.

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
*before* neonicotinoids were introduced.

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.

Dave

*_________________*

*David L. Fischer, Ph.D.*

Director, Pollinator Safety

[image: cid:image002.png at 01CEB90B.FB8A3280]

Environmental Safety

Development North America

Bayer CropScience, LP

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: 919-549-2843

david.fischer at bayer.com

From:        David Inouye <inouye at umd.edu>
To:        <pollinator at coevolution.org>
Date:        11/18/2014 01:46 PM
Subject:        [Pollinator] White House's new Pollinator Health Task Force
is accepting public comments
Sent by:        "Pollinator" <
pollinator-bounces+joseph.wisk=basf.com at lists.sonic.net>
------------------------------

Word is getting around about this issue/opportunity.

David

*Tell the Pollinator Health Task Force: Ban bee-killing pesticides.*

*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.*

Due to the use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides, *bees and other
pollinators are dying-off at an alarming rate* with dire implications for
our food supply and domestic agriculture industry.

*The federal governmentâ€™s response to this crisis has been totally
inadequate – but that could soon change.* 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.1

*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.2* We know a ban on bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides is
whatâ€™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.

*Tell the Pollinator Health Task Force: Ban bee-killing neonicotinoid
pesticides. Click here to submit a public comment before the November 24
deadline.*
<http://act.credoaction.com/sign/ban_neonics?t=3&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC>

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, *pollinators make possible an astounding 35% of global
food production and contribute more than $24 billion annually to the U.S.
economy.* 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.3

Thatâ€™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.

*So far, both the USDA and EPA have displayed a disturbing lack of urgency
when it comes to saving bees from deadly pesticides.* In fact, the EPAâ€™s
current plan is to continue studying neonicotinoid pesticides until 2018
before it takes action to save our pollinators.4

But we canâ€™t afford to wait four more years to do whatâ€™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, *now
is the time to demand an immediate ban on bee-killing neonicotinoid
pesticides.*

*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.*
<http://act.credoaction.com/sign/ban_neonics?t=4&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC>

Thanks for fighting to save bees and other vital pollinators.

Josh Nelson, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
<http://act.credoaction.com/go/109?t=5&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC>

Add your name:

Learn more about this campaign
<http://act.credoaction.com/sign/ban_neonics?nosig=1&t=7&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC>

1. " New Steps to Protect Pollinators, Critical Contributors to Our
Nationâ€™s Economy
<http://act.credoaction.com/go/7553?t=8&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC>," The
White House Blog, June 20, 2014.
2. " Public Listening Sessions on Pollinator Health Task Force
<http://act.credoaction.com/go/7554?t=9&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC>,"
Environmental Protection Agency.
3. " Fact Sheet: The Economic Challenge Posed by Declining Pollinator
Populations
<http://act.credoaction.com/go/7555?t=10&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC>," The
White House, June 20, 2014.
4. " Beekeepers and Public Interest Groups Sue EPA Over Bee-Toxic Pesticides
<http://act.credoaction.com/go/7556?t=11&akid=12199.567895.6-UUjC>,"
Pesticide Action Network, March 21, 2013.
Â© 2014 CREDO. All rights reserved.
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Pollinator mailing list
Pollinator at lists.sonic.net
https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator
------------------------------

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