Coalition presses for all retailers to make commitment to protect bees
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Home Depot (NYSE: HD), the world’s largest home-improvement chain, has announced that it has removed neonicotinoid pesticides, a leading driver of global bee declines, from 80 percent of its flowering plants and that it will complete its phase-out in plants by 2018. This announcement follows an ongoing campaign and letter by Friends of the Earth and allies urging Home…
More than 400,000 people urge garden retailers to stop selling bee-killing pesticides
WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 5,000 people in 10 cities across the U.S. will swarm Ace Hardware and True Value Hardware stores this week to urge retailers to make firm, time-bound commitments to take bee-killing pesticides off store shelves as part of a national week of action. Groups will deliver more than 400,000 petition signatures to Ace and True Value’s corporate headquarters…
Media advisory for November 4, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Local gardeners, beekeepers, environmentalists and food safety advocates will swarm Ace and True Value stores on Wednesday, November 4 to deliver letters asking the home improvement retailers to remove bee-killing pesticides from store shelves. They join more than 5,000 people that will deliver letters to the retailers in more than 10 cities across the U.S. as part of a national week of action. A coalition led by…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – An analysis released today by Friends of the Earth U.S. reveals disturbing news: U.S. and European Union trade negotiators meeting in Miami this week appear to be actively considering adopting the agenda of chemical and pesticide industry lobbyists. Under the terms of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement -- or TTIP -- chemical and pesticide safety standards on both sides of the Atlantic could be lowered. In particular, efforts…
More than 500,000 Americans call on Bayer to stop selling bee-killing pesticides
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Farmers, beekeepers, environmentalists, students, bee-lovers and members of the North Carolina community rallied in front of the North Carolina Capitol building today and delivered more than 500,000 petition signatures urging Bayer (DE: BAYN) to stop selling bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides. Bayer is one of the leading manufacturers of neonicotinoids -- a key driver of bee decline. Bayer was invited…
500,000 Americans demand that Bayer help save bees
RALEIGH, N.C. — Farmers, beekeepers, environmentalists, students, and other members of the North Carolina community will swarm the North Carolina Capitol building in bee costumes on Saturday to help save the bees. Local stakeholders will speak and deliver petition signatures from more than 500,000 Americans, urging Bayer, one of the manufacturers of neonicotinoids -- a leading driver of bee declines -- to stop manufacturing and selling…
Thousands urge Ace and True Value to remove bee-killing pesticides
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Over the month of August, more than 2,000 people across the country urged Ace Hardware and True Value to “save brunch” and stop selling bee-killing pesticides. As part of a national month of action organized by Friends of the Earth and allies, bee activists held “brunches for bees” to educate their communities about the importance of protecting bees; customers visited…
CropLife America’s influence on EPA’s regulation of bee-harming pesticides questioned
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Friends of the Earth sent a letter to pesticide industry trade association CropLife America today, urging it to immediately release all meeting minutes and communications between representatives of the EPA Office of the Administrator, Office of Pesticide Programs and Croplife America. On August 26, CropLife America claimed that Friends of the Earth’s Freedom of Information Act request on the…
A trio of recent studies, one conducted in the U.S. and the others in Europe, are highlighting some alarming facts regarding the daunting realities of neonicotinoid pesticides and their prevalence in industrial agriculture. The timing of this research coincides with the closing of the public comment period for EPA’s proposal, which is part of the White House Pollinator Strategy and once again emphasizes why the administration’s policies should focus more heavily on eliminating neonicotinoid pesticides…
FOIA request probes pesticide industry influence
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Friends of the Earth submitted a Freedom of Information Act to the Environmental Protection Agency today requesting meeting minutes and communications between the EPA Office of the Administrator, the Office of Pesticide Programs and representatives of the pesticide industry. Friends of the Earth submitted this FOIA due to concerns raised by beekeepers around undue pesticide industry influence on the development of the EPA’s pollinator and…