Addressed to:

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray

Seattle Parks Department Deputy Superintendent Christopher Williams

City Councilmember Mike O’Brien

City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw

City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen

City Councilmember Kshama Sawant

City Councilmember Nick Licata

City Councilmember Bruce Harrell

City Councilmember Tim Burgess

City Councilmember Jean Godden

City Councilmember Sally J. Clark

 

As citizens of Seattle, and as social, environmental, and civic leaders, we call on the City of Seattle to place an immediate moratorium on the usage of neonicotinoid pesticides on all City-owned property.

Pollinators are critical to our food supply, as well as ecosystem health, but are under intense stress and declining numbers, with Colony Collapse Disorder devastating honey bee hives worldwide. Scientists identify neonicotinoid pesticides as a key contributor to pollinator deaths and the decline of pollinator species [1]. Recognizing the danger, the European Union has instituted a moratorium on the use of neonicotinoids, but the US Congress and Environmental Protection Agency have failed to act. The White House Task Force on Pollinator Health is looking into the issue; meanwhile pollinators continue to die off, putting major sectors of agricultural production and ecosystem health at risk.

Citizens across the nation are demanding we protect our pollinators, and cities are taking the lead, with the cities of Spokane WA, Eugene OR, and Shorewood MN recently instituting city bans on neonicotinoids.

We support a Resolution to be passed by the Seattle City Council, to join other cities in banning neonicotinoids, to help protect pollinators and our food supply.

CURRENT LIST OF ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORTERS

Central Co-op

Sierra Club, Seattle Group

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

PCC Natural Markets

Seattle Tilth Association

UW Medicinal Herb Garden

Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides

Seattle Audubon Society

Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network

Tilth Producers of Washington

Organically Grown Company

Urban Bee Company

The Common Acre

Seattle Nature Alliance

City Fruit

Glory Bee

Salmon Safe

Community Alliance for Global Justice

Vashon Island Growers Association

Domestic Fair Trade Association

Health Care Without Harm

Seattle 350.org

NE Organic Farming Association

Fair World Project

[1]

http://www.xerces.org/neonicotinoids-and-bees/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343513000493