To: President Donald Trump

Oregon: Tell President Obama to ban bee-killing pesticides

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for calling national attention to the plight of bees and other pollinators. These important creatures are an integral part of healthy ecosystems – but they continue to die off in dramatic numbers.

Your recently-announced pollinator initiative is a step in the right direction, but we need to make sure this effort results in real protections for bees. We need to ban bee-killing pesticides now!

A mounting body of scientific evidence points to one class of systemic insecticides — neonicotinoids (neonics) — as a key factor in bee declines. Neonics can kill bees outright, and at sublethal doses, they impair bees’ brain function and suppress their immune systems — making them more susceptible to diseases, pests and other stressors.

This problem is urgent. Beekeepers report continuing unsustainable losses and many have gone out of business. The EPA’s plan to complete its review of neonics by 2019 is not an acceptable timetable for beekeepers and our food security.

I urge you to listen to the growing body of science that tells us we need to ban neonics. They are a key part of the problem and need to be tackled head on.

Thank you,

Why is this important?

The Obama Administration has launched a new initiative protect bees and other pollinators and try to prevent the recent bee die-offs. It also provides funding to create new bee habitats in five states.

But this effort falls far short of what's needed. The plan fails to take definitive action on neonicotinoid pesticides -- a key factor contributing to the bee die-offs and one they could do something about now.

Tell President Obama he needs to take strong and immediate action to save bees and ban bee-killing pesticides now!