Western monarch population down 99%

Dear Friend, Don’t let Bayer-Monsanto drive monarch butterflies toward extinction. Donate $27 or more today. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( September is here, heralding one of nature’s greatest events: The fall migration of the monarch butterfly. But this year, monarchs are more at risk than ever before -- and toxic pesticides are a key factor driving them toward extinction. Help stop toxic pesticides before they wipe out monarchs: [Donate $27 to Friends of the Earth.]( Western monarchs have declined by over 99% since the 1980s. They’re at risk of disappearing forever. A key factor in their decline is glyphosate -- a.k.a. the active ingredient in Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup. At Friends of the Earth, we’re working to get this toxic pesticide out of our food system -- but we need your help! Help save monarchs from toxic pesticides: Donate $27 or more today. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( The migration of the monarch butterfly is unlike any other. Each fall, millions of these colorful creatures leave their summer feeding and breeding grounds and travel up to 3,000 miles south to reach their overwintering grounds in Mexico and California. No other insect in the world migrates such a distance, to places it has never been before. The butterflies making their way south today are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that left last spring. It is a team effort -- an epic, intergenerational journey hardwired into their DNA. This migration is unique, remarkable, and fragile. The monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration as birds do. But unlike any other great migrators, like birds or caribou, none of these individual butterflies will ever return. Instead, after the winter, they will fly part of the way back north, where they will mate and lay eggs on only one plant: milkweed. There, their eggs will hatch into colorful caterpillars, who then feed on the milkweed, and transform into butterflies before continuing north, and over several generations finish their round trip. Another thing that makes this migration different from any other is that it is entirely reliant on one plant: milkweed. But milkweed is being wiped out by Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup, and the monarch butterflies that depend on it are being decimated. Help stop Bayer-Monsanto from driving monarch butterflies toward extinction. Donate $27 to Friends of the Earth today. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( What’s more, scientists have confirmed what we have long feared: milkweed, vital to the survival of the monarchs, is contaminated by toxic pesticides. A recent study found every single sample of milkweed was contaminated -- scientists found 64 different pesticides, and a third of samples contained pesticides at levels known to be deadly to monarchs. This poisoning of the only food source for monarch caterpillars is one more factor driving monarchs to the brink. And it’s all for the sake of corporate greed. Bayer-Monsanto needs to be held accountable for its role in this tragic loss. As monarch populations are plummeting, the amount of Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup used each year has skyrocketed -- from 11 million pounds in 1987 to nearly 300 million pounds in 2016. Roundup -- an herbicide that kills virtually all plants except crops genetically engineered to survive it -- is wiping out milkweed, the only food young monarchs eat. Corporations like Bayer-Monsanto are doubling down on their pollinator-toxic pesticides -- lobbying against critical environmental protections and pushing for even more widespread use of pesticides to increase their profits. Don’t let Bayer-Monsanto drive monarch butterflies toward extinction. Add your support with a $27 donation to Friends of the Earth. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( At Friends of the Earth, we know how to beat Big Ag and save endangered species. Our strategy includes a nationwide ban on neonics and other toxic pesticides that kill bees and butterflies. At the same time, we’re pushing major grocery companies like Kroger to stop selling food grown with these chemicals. This is the kind of bold campaigning that can shift us away from pesticide-intensive agriculture and make pollinator- and people-friendly organic food available for all. Companies like Bayer-Monsanto are using their money and power to protect their profits at all costs. What’s more, they are spending millions to distract the public and policymakers from the role their pesticides play in the killing of pollinators -- taking a page right out of the playbook of Big Tobacco. As you read this email, Big Ag corporations are spending big money to stop monarch-saving regulations and legislation from ever being passed. Our plan has the power to win comprehensive protections for monarch butterflies, people, and the planet. But we need you to step up and be the hero in this story -- before these beautiful and iconic butterflies disappear forever. Take bold action to help protect marvelous monarchs. Show your support with a $27 donation to Friends of the Earth. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( Standing with you, Lisa Archer, Food and agriculture program director, Friends of the Earth Contact Us: Friends of the Earth U.S. Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687 [Contact us]( Email Preferences: [Click here to unsubscribe]( Learn more: www.foe.org/news www.foe.org/about-us www.foeaction.org Connect: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Flickr]( © 2017, Friends of the Earth. All Rights Reserved. [supporter]