Submit Your Comment: Tell EPA to Protect Wildlife from Glyphosate

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

Glyphosate — the main active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup — is anything but safe. Sure, the chemical kills weeds in our driveways, but weeds aren’t the only victim: An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study found that glyphosate harms 93 percent of endangered species.¹

The study marks an important step in protecting America’s threatened species from this chemical. But if we’re going to protect these species, we have to speak up.

PennEnvironment and our national network are rallying our supporters across the nation to speak up against the dangerous chemical. Will you make your public comment today at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=42987?

Between 2010 and 2019, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared 467 species extinct, though some could have disappeared in previous decades.² And the prospects for many surviving species are grim: Scientists estimate that as many as 1 million species are at risk of extinction.³

When it comes to saving our endangered wildlife, we have to do everything we can. If we don’t, future generations might never see imperiled species, such as monarch butterflies or rusty patched bumblebees.

But there’s a chance to make a difference: If we can tell the EPA to protect our wildlife from glyphosate, we can take meaningful steps toward saving the species we have left.

And that’s where you come in. Tell the EPA: Protect America’s wildlife from glyphosate.

We shouldn’t be spraying a weed killer linked to species endangerment in our backyards and driveways — and we probably shouldn’t have sprayed 1.8 million tons of it across the U.S. over the past four decades.⁴ And over the years, weeds have only grown more resistant, requiring more and more Roundup in a vicious cycle where wildlife, including pollinators, and people are the ultimate victims.⁵

At PennEnvironment, we’ve stood up against dangerous pesticides before. Our national network helped win bans on other bee-killing pesticides in Connecticut and Maryland. At the local level, we’ve done the same with ordinances won in Baltimore and Philadelphia.

And now we need to take a hard look at the effects of glyphosate on threatened species.

This is our chance to take a stand for America’s wildlife. Make your public comment today.

1. Sam Bloch, “New EPA finding: Glyphosate harms 93 percent of endangered species,” The Counter, December 12, 2020.
2. Brian Resnick, “The species the world lost this decade,” Vox, December 9, 2019.
3. Brian Resnick, “The species the world lost this decade,” Vox, December 9, 2019.
4. Douglas Main, “Glyphosate Now the Most-Used Agricultural Chemical Ever,” Newsweek, February 2, 2016.
5. Mark Olalde, “U.S. EPA unveils new pesticide rules, pleasing farmers but upsetting environmentalists,” Desert Sun, February 3, 2020.