On August 18, NRDC filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an effort to get the agency to disclose information it has been withholding about the threats posed by pesticides to the health of honey bees. EPA rebuffed NRDC’s Freedom of Information Act requests for agency records on the impacts of certain pesticides that have been implicated in the alarming die-offs of honey bees across the country, also known as colony collapse disorder (CCD). EPA recently approved a pesticide, clothianidin, without disclosing the necessary studies demonstrating its impact on bees or even proving that the studies were carried out. The same pesticide was banned in Germany due to concerns about its effect on bees. The consequences of CCD are far-reaching, as honey bees are responsible for pollinating $15 billion worth of crops each year and contribute to one-third of the average American diet through pollination. Gabriela Chavarria, Director of NRDC’s Science Center, has spent more than 20 years studying bees and has been working alongside Senior Attorney Aaron Colangelo on this issue. Visit NRDC’s www.beesafe.org website for more information on CCD.