Bees Everywhere Rejoice!
In a major victory for bees, last week the Federal Court overturned the EPA’s approval of the insecticide sulfoxaflor – a neonictide insecticide with very harmful effects on many insects, including honeybees. Check out the story below!
In 2015, it seems that people have really started to sit up and take notice of the plight of bees. With the widespread decline in bee populations and the increase in colony collapse disorder, numerous scientists have become very worried about the impact of the loss of bees on our own human population. After all, bees provide the very valuable service of pollination for nearly all of the crops upon which we depend for survival.
While there are still many reasons why bees are still in danger, including dozens of other pesticides currently in use, there is no question that this is a step in the right direction.
Check out the article to find out more:
September 10, 2015 – Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected U.S. EPA’s approval of the neonicotinoid insecticide “sulfoxaflor.” The Court concluded that EPA violated federal law when it approved sulfoxaflor without reliable studies regarding the impact that the insecticide would have on honeybee colonies. The Court vacated EPA’s approval, meaning that sulfoxaflor may not be used in the U.S. unless, and until, EPA obtains the necessary information regarding impacts to honeybees and re-approves the insecticide in accordance with law.
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The Court did state Sulfoxaflor is a subclass of neonicotinoids. With the findings in this case, EPA may be encouraged to re-examine other unconditional registrations for possible flawed and limited data.
BACKGROUND
One in every three bites of food depends on bees for pollination, and the annual value of pollination services worldwide are estimated at over $125 billion.
In the United States, pollination contributes $20–$30 billion in agricultural production annually….
A growing body of independent science links a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics) to bee declines, both alone and in combination with other factors like disease and malnutrition. Twenty-nine independent scientists conducted a global review of 800 independent studies and found overwhelming evidence of pesticides linked to bee declines.
See the news story at EarthJustice.org…
