Pollinator populations are plummeting, but Big Ag goes right on pushing bee-toxic neonic products and potent herbicides. President Trump's EPA should be doing its job of protecting our pollinators. Instead, it's protecting Big Ag's profits.
Between massive cash contributions and back-room dealings, it's easy to see why.
NRDC is taking on the Trump administration and its support for the big agrichemical companies like Bayer Monsanto, DowDupont (now Corteva Agriscience) — and we need your support:
Please make a gift to help us fight back against the chemical giants, save pollinators, and defend our environment on all fronts.
We've won these kinds of fights before, and with your all-important gift today, we can win again.
Populations of bees, birds, and other vital pollinators are crashing. These pollinators are responsible for a substantial portion of our global food supply — from apples and blueberries to watermelon and zucchini.
And the iconic and majestic monarch butterfly? Their western population is also declining at an alarming rate — 90 percent this past winter.
The relationship between Trump and Big Ag is almost as toxic as the crippling pollinator-killing chemicals they push out:
Dow Chemical developed and Corteva now sells a bee-killing neonic chemical pesticide — sulfoxaflor — that according to the EPA's own studies is
"highly toxic to bees at all life stages." Dow contributed $1 million to Trump's inauguration. The Trump administration has also gone to court to defend the new toxic herbicide — Enlist Duo — which is
obliterating native milkweed plants that monarch butterflies need to survive.
Who developed Enlist Duo? Again, Dow Chemical. Enlist Duo, like sulfoxaflor, is now sold by Corteva.
And while their mega merger was in the works,
Bayer and
Monsanto — the world's biggest manufacturer of bee-killing neonic pesticides, orchestrated a meeting with Trump
just nine days before he took office. It's clear that Big Ag is expecting a return on their investment.
Enough is enough. NRDC is waging two pitched courtroom battles against the EPA. One charges that the agency violated the law when it approved Corteva's Enlist Duo. The other aims to restrict the use of dozens of bee-killing neonic products made by Bayer-Monsanto and other agrichem companies.
But we need you to stand with us: Make an emergency donation to support our court battles and defend our environment in the most effective way possible.
The collapse of pollinators should concern any person who cares about healthy ecosystems, our food supply, and biodiversity. But apparently that doesn't include the Trump administration or its agrichemical allies.
And our bees and butterflies are paying the ultimate price.
I know you agree that we must turn the tide. For our pollinators, and the future of our food supply,
please support our campaign with a donation right now. We'll put it to work in our fight against Trump's EPA, Big Ag, and the toxic products they're pushing out, as we defend our environment — in and out of the courtroom — in the most effective way possible.
Thank you for being with us. Your support will help us save our pollinators before it's too late.
Sincerely,
Dan Raichel
Staff Attorney, Nature Program, NRDC
