Bee responsibility

As a young woman who recently finished her undergraduate career and is beginning a new chapter with a graduate program at the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment in the fall, I feel a certain level of increased responsibility over my life, my surroundings, and my future. I want now, more than ever, to be engaged with the people and the world around me. I want to feel like the things I have learned will count towards legitimate and positive action because I have been told time and again that as a young person, this is my time. As a young person who is starting to see all the problems around her, I want my future to be centered on protecting the environment. I think my future line of work will require a certain sense of dark humor, but what gives me hope is science. One of the things I admire the most about it is that science can shine light on some hard truths and at the very least, make the more responsible choice clear. Which is why, I’m frustrated with the Obama administration for not listening to the strong science telling us we must act fast to protect pollinators from pesticides—a leading driver of their decline.

{mosads}The Obama administration has access to an enormous amount of information that overwhelmingly agrees that neonicotinoid insecticides are harmful to the bees and other pollinators that fuel our ecosystems, food system, and economy. Why then, given that information, has the administration gone through the trouble of formulating a plan that outlines such a watered down approach to protecting them? I will give them credit for at least trying to protect pollinators with the National Pollinator Health Strategy, which is a first step in the right direction and is better than having nothing at all. But now is not the time to let up. I cannot accept that we have sufficient evidence to understand the troubling effects of neonicotinoids on pollinators and do little to regulate their current use. I cannot accept that there are loopholes that allow parties to use pesticides when we know they are contaminating our soil, water and may even end up on our plates. I cannot accept that over the last 8 years, beekeepers on average have seen a 30 percent decline in their hive populations and this past year, beekeepers experienced the second highest loss recorded to date. Yet, we have to wait until 2017 for the White House to release a more thorough review on neonicotinoids. I cannot accept that the second I feel like I’m starting to gain control over my future, someone is trying to mortgage it.

I know bees aren’t sexy to everyone and most people probably don’t think about them everyday. Perhaps it’s their size and appearance that betray them- they’re small and admittedly lack the majestic quality of a bald eagle or a Bengal tiger. It’s easy to look at bees and either associate them with the pain of getting stung or a child’s Halloween costume, but it’s time for us to think more critically about them. Consider the following: pollination contributes to more than $15 billion to the U.S. economy and $217 billion to the world economy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that if pollinators were available at the numbers needed, harvest income could increase by an estimated $400 million. Consider that pollination provides 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat, which directly impacts our health and ability to contribute to our family and society. Consider that pollination supports and fuels our world’s unbelievable biodiversity- a precious and rare beauty that we have yet to find on any other planet and that we need to protect.

When it comes right down to it, when they go down, so do we. I understand that the nature of scientific research is complicated and I understand it’s hard to replicate what actually happens in the wild in a lab. But we know the effects of these chemicals accumulate and we know that our bees and essential pollinators are dying at alarming rates. So as a young person, who’s been told her time is now, I want to take this opportunity to be responsible for the well-being of others and speak up to our administration, which is why I joined other student leaders from across the country in urging the Obama administration to address pesticide use and advance policies that support a sustainable and just food system.

Point blank, I want the administration to take this issue more seriously. I need them to stand up to chemical and pesticide companies and say enough is enough. I need them to be a part of a mutual partnership where when I make good choices that positively impact others, they make good choices that positively impact me. I need them to be intellectually responsible and advance policies that are good for bees, beekeepers, farmers, the environment and the American public because they have tremendous power and we need them to use it to do what’s right for our future.

Ares is a Food Futures intern for the Food and Technology Program at the Friends of the Earth U.S.