The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) recently denied a request made by beekeepers to stop the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which pose a threat to pollinator insects. This decision will have very harmful repercussions on the economy and ecosystems of the United States. Smaller beekeepers, many of whom rely on their bees for income, will also be seriously negatively affected.

Neonicotinoid pesticides are related to nicotine. Since 2006, they have caused huge die-offs of bees in the US and Canada. Many beekeepers have lost over 30% of their colonies every year - a huge number that will have huge repercussions throughout the farming industry, among others.

The EPA refuses to admit the presence of an "imminent threat" to honeybee colonies. Discontinuing the use of neonicotinoid pesticides would be a huge step toward the health of every ecosystem and farming operation in the United States, but the EPA chooses to ignore this fact in the face of corporate pressure.