Change Your World Week Fall 2021 (Archived)

Neonicotinoids, A harmful pesticide is used all over the world. The pesticide covers plants and gets onto the bodies and wings of bees when they try to pollinate. When it coats their bodies they are unable to produce queen bees and interfere with bees' ability to navigate back to their colony. These issues can cause bee colonies to diminish and reduce overall pollination to crops, which could cause food shortages in the future. If bees keep dying at this rate it could have a negative impact on our food supply. Bees play a big role in pollinating crops.

Crops that Neonicotinoids are used on:

• corn
• canola crops
• sorghum
• sugar beets
• cotton
• sorghum
• a majority of fruits
• cereal grains
• rice
• nuts

Here in Michigan, we grow apples, cherries, sugar beets, corn, and many other crops that use these pesticides. Without our bee population, it is hard for the ecosystem to thrive. This decrease in bees and beehives could lead to food and ecosystem problems that need to be solved.

What government action can be taken to address the issue?

• Ban the use of Neonicotinoid pesticides
• Provide farmers alternatives to replace the Neonicotinoid pesticides (Jactel 2019)
• Cover the extra costs of alternatives through subsides or "mutual fund" insurance (Coordination, 2018)
• Help beekeepers reproduce bees to increase population quicker such as supplies, habitat, funds (USDA, 2014)

What can the people do to address the issue?

• Contact State Congressmen and express concern about issue 
• Sign a petition that advocates for saving bees by banning Neonicotinoid pesticides
• Join an interest group that works towards saving the bees
• Stop the use of Neonicotinoid pesticides and use safe alternatives 
• Plant a diverse amount of native plants that bloom in each season (Holland, 2021)

House Bill NO. 4895:

• Bill was introduced in the State House 
• Bans the use of Neonicotinoid pesticides on public land unless there is an environmental emergency 
• 4 year research on the effects of Neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinators, costs and benefits to economy
• Doesn't ban seeds pretreated with Neonicotinoid pesticides on public land

Problems with Bill:

• Only affects Neonicotinoid pesticide use on public property, privately owned land is still allowed for pesticide use 
• Doesn't include pretreated seeds, 79% of all corn acres and 1/3 of all soybeans use pretreated seeds (LaJeunesse 2015)

Now how could there be an alternative perspective on saving the bees? Who wouldn't want to save the bees right? Well yes and no, in a study that took place in Europe they passed a similar law with the same end goal of trying to increase the bee population. But people forget that there are two sides to every issue, the people who benefit and the people who do not. And "saving the bees" could end with killing our farmers. No of course not actually killing the farmers but killing their careers as one. Here are a few examples of what happened when Europe passed a bill to implement regulation on products that were linked to killing bees. And to keep in mind € 120 million is about 139 million in U.S dollars. 

• Quality loss of crops on average of 6.3% 
• € 350 million in market revenue loss 
• € 50 million of that resulting from quality loss due to the regulations 
• Decrease in supply as the demand stays the same

Note: This is only from banning THREE neonicotinoids, imagine if the U.S banned them all!

Stakeholders involved in banning of Neonicotinoid pesticides:

• Farmers 
  • Yield of crops would be less if the pesticides are banned 
• Pesticide Companies 
  • The banning of the pesticides would hurt profit 
• Beekeepers
  • Banning of the pesticides would help bee population increase and lead to more bee products
• Environmentalists
  • less pesticide use would be better for the environment and more bees in the ecosystem
• Lawmakers
  • hold the power to pass bills that can ban the pesticides 
• Every Person on the Planet 
  • Enjoy eating food and have the power to vote for lawmakers that support banning of the pesticides

This is the petition we have made to pass House Bill No. 4895. By signing this petition you will have the chance to help bees, future generations of bees and humans, and even yourself.

https://chng.it/R9kgz8XBzL