“That which is not good for the beehive cannot be good for the bees.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
June 17-23, 2024, is National Pollinator Week, "a time to raise awareness for pollinators and spread the word about what we can do to protect them". There are plenty of threats to pollinators, including:
Habitat degradation and fragmentation
Pollution
Pesticides
Pests and pathogens
Changes in land use and climate change
Lack of genetic diversity
Competition with non-native species
Climate change affecting flowering times
But as the People's Justice Council Executive Director Rev. Michael Malcom says, "The air blows and the water flows." As we sow this environmental destruction, we, like the pollinators on which we depend, are reaping toxic effects on ourselves. While none of us can escape this toxic reaping, we don't all bear the negative health effects equally.
According to Beyond Pesticides, "A report released in January, US pesticide regulation is failing the hardest-hit communities. It’s time to fix it, finds 'people of color and low-income communities in the United States and around the world continue to shoulder the societal burden of harmful pollution.' More specifically, the authors state that 'ongoing environmental injustice is the disproportionate impact these communities suffer from pesticides, among the most widespread environmental pollutants.'"
This is what environmental justice has to do with National Pollinator Week. None of us can be free from environmental injustice until we are all free of environmental injustice.
How can we act on environmental injustice? One way is to join our From Resilience to Restoration initiative and work with frontline communities for ecological restoration, economic elevation, and ecumenical (interfaith) healing. Another way is to join us for
a series of No Dirty Deals False Solutions webinars this summer, beginning with "Unveiling the Truth About LNG in the Gulf South" on July 2, 2024, at 1:00 PM Central. Register here!
“We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.” ― Marcus Aurelius
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