EARTHJUSTICE, FOR THE RECORD: The court gets it right for wolves, Bees and other insects are disappearing at an alarming rate, Migrant children detention center nightmare, Wheeler’s EPA keeps brain-damaging pesticide in our food, for now, Nowhere left for polar bears 24FEB19

With a team of more than 100 legal experts on staff and more than 400 active cases, Earthjustice is holding accountable those who threaten to harm our environment and break our bedrock environmental laws.

The court gets it right for wolves A judge upheld California’s endangered species protections for wolves, but one lone wolf’s journey across state lines shows that federal protections are necessary for their continued survival. READ MORE   BEES ARE IN PERIL — HELP US PROTECT THEM! Bees and other insects are disappearing at an alarming rate. Earthjustice is going to the root of the problem and fighting in court to ban toxic pesticides. Help fund our legal battle today! DONATE NOW     Bees and other insects are disappearing at an alarming rateMillions of insects are dying, and the consequences could be catastrophic. One of the reasons for this sudden collapse? Pesticides. A new report shows how toxic chemicals are contributing to this unprecedented loss. Find out what we’re doing to protect bees and other beneficial insects. READ MORE Migrant children detention center nightmareDocuments that Earthjustice and its clients have uncovered show how a proposed migrant detention center for children will be built on a former Air Force landfill site riddled with chemicals. READ MORE Wheeler’s EPA keeps brain-damaging pesticide in our food, for nowEven though the EPA’s own scientists have said that chlorpyrifos, a chemical originally used for warfare, is harmful, Acting Administrator Wheeler is asking to rehear the case and reverse the ban. We will see him in court. READ MORE Nowhere left for polar bearsWhen their home on Arctic ice melts, polar bears retreat to the remote shores of the Arctic Refuge. If an army of oil industry workers invades their new home in the dead of winter, things are not going to end well. READ MORE   “The President’s cynical political spectacle is creating enormous suffering for thousands of real people whose lives are at stake. We must stand in solidarity with border communities. And we must be prepared to use the full power of the law to do so.” — Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen on President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to build additional miles of wall at the border READ MORE HOW YOU CAN HELP Keep neuro-poisons like mercury and arsenic out of our air, water, and food chain Under the leadership of a former coal lobbyist, the EPA is making a mockery of its mission to protect public health by gutting the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. These critical protections prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths and 130,000 asthma attacks every year. TAKE ACTION A former coal lobbyist should not lead the EPA The EPA is in danger of being taken over by a friend of corporate polluters. Again. Tell your senators: Reject former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as EPA chief. TAKE ACTION

The Earth needs a good lawyer. And in this dark hour, Earthjustice has 130. We’re the lawyers for the environment, and the law is on our side. Learn more.

COMMENT DEADLINE APPROACHING: Tell the EPA to Protect our Bees & EU expected to vote on pesticide ban after major scientific review 7APR&28FEB18

THE campaign started in 2014 against pesticides that kill bees continues, neonicotinoids and neonics are being pushed by bayer and syngenta, and though they know their products are responsible for killing off bee colonies across the country and are threats to the health of farm workers and residents in farm states where the bayer-syngenta cabal is seeking approval for expanded use of these poisons. They are putting profit over the health and safety of the American people and environment. These pesticides were banned from use on sunflowers, oilseed rape and corn in Europe in 2013 because studies prove they kill bees. Now the EU is expected to vote on completely banning their outdoor use because of more studies showing  they ans killing off bees. bayer and syngenta believe they will get approval from the US EPA director scott pruit to expand the use of these poisons to 165 million acres of American farmland.  Please submit a comment telling the EPA to deny bayer and syngenta  their request to expand the use of these pesticides and point out the EPA is supposed to be the Environmental Protection Agency. And be sure to check out the article in Nature...... 

Survey of more than 1,500 studies concludes that neonicotinoids harm bees.	URGENT: Scott Pruitt is embroiled in scandal, but his EPA is not stopping plans to expand the use of dangerous bee-killing pesticides. Help protect our pollinators and submit an official comment by April 21st » URGENT ACTION NEEDED! We cannot let Pruitt's dirty dealings decimate our pollinator populations, contaminate our waterways, and jeopardize our health. COMMENT NOW Right now, while scandal after scandal breaks exposing EPA chief Scott Pruitt's cozy ties to industry insiders, he is still moving to help his corporate buddies. This time, it's by expanding the use of extremely toxic bee-killing neonicotinoid thiamethoxam pesticides on over 165 million acres of farmland. Scientific evidence has shown that this pesticide is hazardous to our environment and that the EPA should be reducing its use, not expanding it. We know Scott Pruitt is willing to prioritize the profits of Big Corporations over the health of our pollinators, communities, and ecosystems. And with mega-corporations Bayer and Syngenta — two of the largest producers of these bee-killing neonic pesticides — lobbying Pruitt to make sure that their pesticides stay on the market, we must act quickly and LOUDLY. There are only a few weeks left to act — that's why we need LCV members like you to speak out and tell the EPA to eliminate these dangerous pesticides once and for all. Pressure is building against Scott Pruitt's EPA so now is the time to act — join us. TIME IS RUNNING OUT: Tell the EPA to keep bee-killing pesticides OUT of our farms. GOAL 30,000 comments » Numerous studies have shown that neonic pesticides not only harm bees, but they also pose danger for birds and aquatic species through the contamination of plants and waterways. Already these chemicals have become ubiquitous in our food supply — with evidence of neonic pesticides found on fruits, vegetables, and honey sold in our grocery stores. To make matters worse, the communities that work on and live near these farms are disproportionally exposed to these dangerous pesticides and suffer from greater health risks. And Pruitt is moving to reduce the minimum age requirement for farm workers, increasing the exposure of young workers to these dangerous pesticides. We cannot ignore the science — these pesticides harm wildlife, contaminate the produce we eat, and risk the health of our communities. We must raise our voices in opposition to any move that could jeopardize the health of our pollinators and frontline farm working communities!  As Big Corporations try to discredit science and stop the EPA from taking action in order to protect their bottom line, we must build a bigger and stronger movement to stand up against dangerous pesticides. If enough of us submit a comment, the EPA will have no choice but to reconsider this disasterous plan — and we can save the bees. We can stop them, but we only have until April 21st to speak out. Join the fight — submit a comment and tell Pruitt to stop putting Big Corporations above our health and environment » The EPA exists to protect our pollinators, communities, and environment from dangers just like this. Scott Pruitt thinks he can get away with only protecting the interests of corporations like Bayer and Syngenta. We simply won't let that stand. Show the EPA that we're paying attention and won't stand for attacks against our pollinators. Thank you for standing up for our bees. EU expected to vote on pesticide ban after major scientific review A honeybee (Apis mellifera) gathers pollen from an apple-tree flower.Credit: Solvin Zankl/NPL Survey of more than 1,500 studies concludes that neonicotinoids harm bees. Declan Butler 28 FEBRUARY 2018 In a long-awaited assessment, the European Union’s food-safety agency has concluded that three controversial neonicotinoid insecticides pose a high risk to wild bees and honeybees. The findings by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, raise the chances that the EU will soon move to ban all uses of the insecticides on outdoor crops. In 2013, the EU prohibited applications of the three chemicals on crops attractive to bees — such as sunflowers, oilseed rape and maize (corn) — after an EFSA assessment raised concern about the insecticides’ effects. Since then, researchers have amassed more evidence of harm to bees, and the European Commission last year proposed banning all outdoor uses, while still allowing the pesticides in greenhouses. The latest EFSA assessment strengthens the scientific basis for the proposal, says Anca Păduraru, a European Commission spokeswoman for public health and food safety. EU member states could vote on the issue as soon as 22 March. Neonicotinoids (often abbreviated to neonics) are highly toxic to insects, causing paralysis and death by interfering with the central nervous system. Unlike pesticides that remain on plant surfaces, neonicotinoids are taken up throughout the plant — in the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, pollen and nectar. The EFSA assessment covered the three neonicotinoids of greatest concern to bee health — clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. The agency considered more than 1,500 studies, including all the relevant published scientific literature, together with data from academia, chemical companies, national authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and beekeepers’ and farmers’ associations. The assessment found that each of the three chemicals posed at least one type of high risk to bees in all outdoor uses. Harmful exposure The agency found that foraging bees are exposed to harmful levels of pesticide residues in pollen and nectar in treated fields and contaminated areas nearby, as well as in dust created when treated seeds are planted. It also concluded, on the basis of more limited evidence, that neonicotinoids can sometimes persist and accumulate in the soil, and so can affect generations of planted crops and the bees that forage on them. “EFSA’s advice is often criticized by interested parties such as NGOs and companies, but this is a good demonstration of how EFSA gives scientifically sound and impartial advice,” says José Tarazona, head of the agency’s pesticides unit. A spokesperson for the global biotechnology firm Syngenta, which produces neonicotinoids, says that EFSA’s conclusions are overly conservative. “When regulators make decisions about crop-protection products, what should matter is science, data and that the processes in place are respected and that the public interest is served,” the spokesperson says. “Any further restrictions based on this report would be ill-conceived.” EU member states were scheduled to vote on the proposal to outlaw outdoor uses on 13 December, but postponed it partly because many wanted to wait until EFSA completed its evaluation. Member states plan to discuss the EFSA assessment at a meeting of the commission’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed sometime in March, says Păduraru. “The protection of bees is an important issue for the commission since it concerns biodiversity, food production and the environment.” RELATED ARTICLES Controversial insecticides linked to wild bee declines Largest-ever study of controversial pesticides finds harm to bees The bitter battle over the world’s most popular insecticides